RockmanEXE: Operation Black Ace
by Azure Euphoria
Summary: RnR/EXE Crossover:In the final battle with the Crimson Dragon, the dying beast forces Black Ace Rockman to absorb its noise composed self. The energy spike emitted hurls Subaru to another reality, 200 years in the past. Based in Axess. Full Summary Inside
1. Noise Overload!

Summary: Ryuusei no Rockman x RockmanEXE

AU Amidst the battle with the Crimson Dragon, Rockman pulls out his father from its core. However, the beast won't die without a fight. It forces Rockman to absorb its noise composed self, overloading the Ace Program in the process. The overwhelming amount of energy propels Subaru to another reality 200 years in the past where he faces even more trouble in the form of… darkloids?

Based in Axess of (or otherwise known as NT Warrior/Battle Network) universe and near post game of Ryuusei no Rockman 3: Black Ace (or otherwise known as Star Force Mega Man.)

AN: I'm still a bit new at this kind of writing, so please bare with me. I will be using the Japanese names. For those who are unfamiliar, I put the Japanese to English names on the bottom.

Disclaimer: I own nothing. :[

**Chapter 1: Noise Overload**

_Accessing Meteor Server_

Subaru could feel the power surge as the noise rushed to him. It was almost nauseating as the sound of pure static flooded his head, drowning out the blood curdling roar of the Crimson Dragon. His heart pounded and his body quivered yet he was sure it was not out of fear.

"Finalize!" Rockman yelled out as streams of the dark red Noise circled his body, encasing him in an orb of the twisted matter. His small body was taking in the enormous amount of noise emitted from their fight. He could hear a soft voice of static as darkness enveloped him. It was telling him… a name?

"_Is this… the Meteor Server speaking?_" Subaru began to mutter under his breath before Warrock unsubtly yet characteristically interjected with his own thoughts.

"Ooy, Subaru, it's about time we went buck wild!"

The shell that encased the hero shattered as crimson wings of light spread from the now dark looming figure. His once blue armor was dulled to a grey-black, outlined with green streams of light that seemed to pulse brightly. The boy's once brown eyes had clouded over to a red crimson color as he yelled the whispered name of the Meteor Server, "Black Ace!"

A moment of silence prevailed as the static began to clear from Rockman's head. Despite the mindlessness of the Crimson Dragon after Dealer's defeat, the creature let out a low growl out of fear, sensing the overwhelming power that its adversary now harnessed. How was it possible for another being to be able to utilize the power of the meteor more effectively then itself? The primal emotion of fright overwhelmed the creature's mind, as it lashed out with its claws.

Subaru's own mind too was dulled to a single but different emotion. It was time to end it.

In a blink of an eye, the dark figure that the dragon had aimed for disappeared from beneath its claws. The beast's head darted from left to right, searching desperately before the noise hybrid human struck.

But it was too late. From above, Rockman's assault began as his upgraded rock-buster shot the beast at a rapid pace. The dragon's head began to split itself into two separate heads in response, revealing its glowing core. It was all too familiar, much like their previous fight. "How predictable…" the warrior's now low voice spoke as his wings of red light propelled him at top speed towards the naked core. He knew what he had to do.

The beast let out a screech of surprise as Rockman thrust his right arm into its core. "The thing's using your old man as its energy source!" Mega yelled. "If we get him out, then this thing is done for!"

Subaru's semi-conscious mind responded wordlessly as his hand sifted through the noise dense core until he felt the familiar touch of a human hand. Grabbing what he guessed to be his father's hand, Rockman began to pull him out despite the screams of the dragon's two heads. With a last strong tug, both Daigo Hoshikawa and Rockman were thrown backward from the force of the pull. The human turned EM-being tumbled and rolled onto the smooth surface of the wave road only barely stopping before he fell off the edge while Rockman himself had little trouble from the sudden jerk as he landed gracefully on his feet, his wings outstretched.

"S…Subaru?" his father spoke in a hoarse voice as he struggled to catch his breath. His vision was blurred still as his energy was nearly completely drained.

However, he received no response from his son as his voice was drowned out by the Crimson Dragon's dying gasps. Rockman slowly walked up to the fallen beast, his dark sword ready for the final strike. However before he can strike the death blow, the dragon began to disintegrate by itself. Both body and core began to dissipate into the air, leaving a cloudy haze that surrounded the area.

"The air is dense with noise…" Daigo said as he grasped his injured side with his right hand. "Is… it over…?"

The crimson eyes of the dark armored warrior darted from area to area unsure of what to make of the predicament. His gut feeling told him, the beast is still very much alive.

In a flash, the noise filled air began to condense and form streams of the familiar red noise that had previously enveloped him. However, it felt more sinister. For the first time, surprise flashed across the face of the seemingly omnipotent Black Ace Rockman. The tendrils of red noise lunged towards Rockman, hoping to envelop him once again to be hungrily absorbed by the black clad warrior. With his wings spread, Rockman attempted to avoid the streams of noise. He didn't question his instincts on why he feared the concept of absorbing such a large amount of noise.

"Subaruuu!" Daigo yelled out helplessly from the sidelines. The streams of noise that had appeared from the Crimson Dragon's dying body followed the boy as if he were a magnet.

Turning around midflight, Rockman attempted to hit the streams of noise with his buster but to no avail. The cloud of noise quickly caught up to him and enveloped him once more in its curtain of darkness. He could feel the coils of the corrupted material seep into his body, but he held back his screams of pain until it became unbearable. It seared him from the inside out as noise continuously poured into his small body. If his father was calling his name, he could not have heard it. The combination of his own screams of pain and the scratching sounds of the noise easily drowned out anything from outside the red veil. Only Warrock's voice pierced the sound barrier. _Is this the Meteor's last attempt at taking us out along with it? Come on, hold it together, kid!_

After what seemed like an eternity of pain, all of the noise that had lingered in the air had disappeared within a span of a minute. The now thin shell of noise that had covered Rockman began to crumble, his unconscious body still hovering in the air. His eyes were closed, as if in a deep asleep. Daigo looked up at his son's unconscious body in disbelief that any human could absorb that enormous amount of noise.

Before he could ponder upon the topic further, Rockman's eyes flew open. The pupils in his crimson eyes shrank as his wings came to life. The light that came out of his wings burst forth. Daigo shielded his eyes from the blinding light that spread. It enveloped not only the area inside, but the whole meteor itself.

From Earth, Subaru's companions looked on at the impending fall of the meteor from the command center at WAZA headquarters. They too saw the bright flash of light envelop the meteor. It shone brightly like a star giving off its last and brightest light before it died.

"M-Meteor G! It's-!" Misora gasped as she brought both her hands over her mouth to hide her surprise with little effect.

"It's disappearing!" Luna finished Misora's words as they watched the screen displaying the red star.

"The noise level is depleting at a rapid rate!" Amachi exclaimed as he looked at the many computer screens. "Was he able to stop Meteor G?"

And just as how a star dies after its super nova, the meteor itself had completely disappeared when the light faded.

* * *

"It looked like a shooting star!" Netto exclaimed as he burst out of his house, his PET in hand.

"Why are you getting so excited, Netto-kun?" his netnavi tried to reason with his operator's overly excited reaction towards the phenomenon. "You shouldn't leave the house without even telling your mom. She'll be worried to death!"

"Oh come on, lay off me for just a second!"

"Netto-kun… If nobody is going to say it, then I have to. Somebody has to talk sense into you once-"

"Yeah, yeah. I got it Rockman." Netto swiftly dismissed his netnavi before he could go into another lecture. "It's not like I'm going very far, I just want to get a good look at it so I can be sure. Then I can make my wish for that new rare battlechip!"

The netnavi couldn't help but sigh as he shook his head. There really was no stopping the boy sometimes. As they both gazed up into the sky, they saw what seemed to be a blue shooting star. However what really surprised them was the fact that the star seemed to have literally landed on Earth.

"D-Did that shooting star just-?" Rockman began but was cut off when Netto suddenly burst into full speed on his inline skates toward ground-zero of the star's impact. "N-Netto-kun! Where are you going?"

"This is so awesome! I bet it didn't land too far from here!" the boy couldn't hold back his excitement. "If I was the first to find it, I'll be famous! And the probability my wish will be granted will reach 100%!"

"What happened to not 'going very far'?" the blue netnavi sighed yet again as he heard his operator exclaim excitedly.

"Yahooo!"

* * *

Within the darkness of an undisclosed location, a lone figure observed the many computer screens. They flashed with an ominous glow of red light, only briefly showing the mysterious man's surprised face as he scanned the numbers displayed.

_High Energy Level Detected. Warning. High Energy Level Detected. Virus congregation imminent. Source Unknown._

The man, shrouded in shadows, moved his hand to press one of the many keys that littered the arms of his chair. A small smile perked up. "Interesting…" he muttered to himself. With a small click, a separate screen popped up, displaying the familiar face of a vampire-like navi. The sinister looking navi looked at the man with a hint of disdain. However, he chose his words carefully around the man in what seemed to be a symbiotic relationship of some form or another.

"I want you to look into this, Shademan." The man began. "I trust you can deal with at least simple intelligence gathering."

"For what reason should us darkloids investigate?" Shademan growled under his breath. "What purpose does it serve to investigate such a simple anomaly?"

"As long as our alliance exists, I'm depending on you to simply follow orders, without question." The man spoke in a soft yet stern voice as if talking to a child. It served little more then to irritate the darkloid. "…Just as how I supply you with these dark chips you desire, without question."

The disgruntled darkloid simply growled angrily as he turned to leave. As Shademan began to log out of the server, the mysterious man pondered to himself. According to the computer's analysis, an enormous surge of data was what caused the energy spike. With another click of a button, he released the dimensional area around the location.

* * *

"Ooy, Subaru! Subaru! Hey!" Warrock yelled into the boy's ear.

"U-Ugh…Uh…" Subaru slowly picked himself up from the cold metal surface that he had landed on. The surface underneath him was dented from the impact; however the boy himself had only the smallest of bruises. He shifted the Visualizer down to eye level so he could see his wave composed companion. "Warrock…? What happened?"

"Not sure, kid." The EM being simply replied as it looked around at their surroundings. A gaping hole in the roof from where they presumably crashed through let the city lights flood into the abandoned warehouse. Old machinery and conveyor belts stood, rust covered along the walls.

"My mind is still really hazy…" Subaru rubbed the back of his head to sooth a growing bump that had formed from the impact. He rambled off almost incoherently as he tried to piece his fragmented thoughts. "All I remember is that feeling of power flowing into me… and then what I think was fear…? It was all dark and… All of it seems like a blur."

"Same here. It was the first time that you… what was it called? Finalized? "

"Final… ized?" Those were the last words that Subaru could remember him saying before his mind dulled.

"First things first kid, you got an idea on where we are?"

"Can't you check the Hunter VG on where we are?"

"Gotcha covered their kid. While you were out like a rock, I was attempting to connect to it. However, there was a setback."

Subaru flipped open the Hunter VG to check himself, only to be greeted by an error message.

_Unable to Connect to Satellite. Please establish connection. Unable to Con-_

"Eh? It can't connect? What does that mean?"

"It means, kid, that this thing is useless! Common, let's pick up the pace and explore this place ourselves!"

"Well… that's the only thing we really _can_ do right now." Subaru picked himself up, and proceeded to exit the deserted place. He limped slightly, with his now noticeably swollen ankle. "Do you think we're back on Earth?"

"It seems likely, judging by all this junk that only you humans would create being here."

Ignoring the alien's back handed comment, Subaru proceeded to explore the unfamiliar area. As he began to exit from one of the doors however, something fast and hard slammed into him which was followed by a loud yelp. Subaru briefly glimpsed the boy who had bumped into him at such a dangerous speed. They both looked to be around the same age. Most noticeably, the other boy had an blue bandana with a red and black symbol holding back his unruly brown hair.

"Auuugh! Hey! Don't just pop out like that!" the other boy exclaimed. "You can hurt someone!"

"B-But you're the one that crashed into me…" Subaru muttered his reply as he attempted to pull himself up yet again. He could hear Warrock growl his own response.

"You should watch where _you're _goin'!" the alien yelled back. Yet, he went unheard and unseen by their assaulter.

"Hey, um, you alright?" the boy with the blue bandana asked, noticing the bruises on the other kid.

"Netto-kun, you should really apologize…" a voice came from the boy's pocket. "He looks in real bad shape because of your own negligence! You have to be more careful!"

"I was getting right to it, Rockman!" Netto snapped back as he pulled out some sort of electronic device from his pocket which was where the voice seemed to have emanated from. It looked somewhat similar to Subaru's own Hunter VG.

"Rock… man?" Subaru questioned under his breath. He turned towards Warrock for a possible explanation, but received only a simple shrug.

"Anyways, here let me help you up!" Netto, grabbed Subaru's hand and pulled him up from the floor. He could see how the boy visibly wince as his swollen ankle sent a sharp pain to his nerves. "A-And I'm sorry…"

"It's alright. Don't worry about it."

"Yeah, no need for apologies since we're going to pummel you two times over for what you did!" Warrock exclaimed excitedly yet again. Though once again, he was unheard by anyone but Subaru.

"Anyways, uhm…. This may seem a bit awkward but; did you happen to see a star crash here? I thought it might've landed here… and…" A sudden thought crossed the net savor's mind, "Unless… You're here to find the shooting star too! That's the only reason why you would be here! Well I'm going to find it first, and no one's going to stop me from getting that rare battle chip!"

"I-I didn't see any such thing!"

"You sure? You're not lying, right?" the boy insisted as he came closer to Subaru's face until the small voice piped up again.

"Netto-kun, you should really stop hasseling him so much. If you hadn't noticed, he's quite hurt."

"Yeah, I guess you're right. It's not like we need a stupid battle chip to make us stronger." The boy finally conceded, but it was obvious that he did it reluctantly. "But why _are_ you here?"

"Well, I—" Subaru began but was interrupted by a sudden quake. Before he knew it, the sky above them began to be covered by a multi colored field composed of hexagonal cells. Their surroundings too took on a similarly strange multi-colored hue. "W-What's happening?"

"It's a dimensional field!" Netto yelled out. "You stay inside and hide, I'll be right back!" Before Subaru could even reply, the other boy had already skated off in a flash towards the exit. Despite the other boy's warning though, Subaru followed suit. He could hear Warrock voice roar out.

"I don't know why that guy's so pumped up, but I can just feel a battle itching around the corner!"

"I really hope not, Warrock." Subaru couldn't help but sigh. There were so many questions he wanted to ask the other boy, but it all had to wait for now.

* * *

AN: I hope you enjoyed this. A review is much appreciated as I'm looking for feedback on how I can improve along with your opinions on the story so far.

Hoshikawa Subaru = Geo Stelar

Hoshikawa Daigo = Kelvin Stelar

Rockman = Megaman

Misora = Sonia

Hikari Netto = Lan Hikari


	2. Integration! A New Foe Appears!

AN: My heart goes out to all of you guys that gave me feedback. I hope that you all will continue reading the adventures to come.

Yet again, I'm still a bit new to this kind of writing, so please bare with me.

EDIT: I went back to edit the chapter since was deleted throughout the document. I simply replaced it with RockmanEXE (minus the period.) Sorry for the confusion!

-Facepalm- Thanks for everyone who pointed out my errors! I fixed the bandana color and the FM to AM mix-up.

Disclaimer: I own nothing still.

**Chapter 2: Integration! A New Foe Appears?**

"To think I'd be on a mission with the likes of you." the brown, beast-like darkloid sneered at its smaller and much chubbier companion. "You're completely worthless, Bubbleman! If it were not for Shademan's request to leave you in one piece… I'd rip you to-!"

"Puku puku…" the short blue navi began with obvious nervousness. Summing up the little bit of courage and confidence that he had, Bubbleman motioned to his chest with his grubby little thumb as he replied, "Beastman, you're talking to an intelligence investigation professional, puku! I'll find the scoop behind this mystery and finally get my first dark chi-"

"Don't test your luck!" the savage navi roared as its claws came threateningly close to his blue other. As expected, Bubbleman quickly dived, head first, into a pile of random junk machinery to hide in at the first sign of trouble. His chubby head poked out a second later to see whether Beastman was continuing his approach.

"L-L-L-Let's not be too hasty, Beastman! Puku!"

"Count your blessings that you're alive for now." Beastman trudged off into the warehouse. His razor sharp claws sliced whatever came in his path as he proceeded forward. Bubbleman tried to wiggle his way out of the junk he secured himself in to follow the other darkloid only to realize something.

"… I-I'm stuck, puku!" he yelled desperately. Beastman simply continued trudging onward, despite his pleas.

* * *

"Say, Rockman…Why do you think a dimensional field appeared here of all places? It's not like there is anything here." The new net saver muttered, his PET in hand. "Besides busted up machines at least…."

"I don't know… but earlier I was detecting a large energy reading. But then it just disappeared."

"It's probably the work of darkloids. None of the machines in this place are even functional anymore. Meijin-san is probably going to call up any minute and-"

"A-Ah! Netto-kun! Over there, look!" Rockman yelled out from the PET. Turning quickly to the right, Netto was able to glimpse a pair of metool viruses walking about. Judging by their preoccupied manners, they were searching for something in particular. They paid little attention to the boy's glance. It was their mistake, since Netto wasn't about to let any virus go undeleted.

"Alright! It's about time we found something suspicious! Get ready Rockman!"

"Sometimes, I get the feeling that you just want to cross fuse for the sake of cross fusing." The navi said while shrugging his shoulders, though eager himself. He readied for the unison with his net top.

"Synchro Chip, Slot in!" Netto yelled out, not masking his own eagerness. He inserted the green gem encrusted blue chip into his PET. "Cross Fusion!"

Light began to pour out from the PET as it began to break up into blocks of solid data. As the light from the device enveloped Netto, pieces of RockmanEXE's armor began to materialize over his body. He felt the soul of his netnavi come closer to his own as the familiar emblem solidified on his chest. As the light faded, R Rockman remained where the young net saver had once stood.

"Alright!" Netto exclaimed excitedly, practically jumping up and down. "Now, it's time to get to some serious virus busting!"

"Yeah, with two viruses." Rockman's voice resonated in the boy's head. As if on signal, waves of virus started appearing. They ranged from every corner of the virus family, which was an occurrence that happened probably every century. "I guess I spoke too soon."

"Now we're getting somewhere! Rockbuster!" R Rockman yelled out as his right hand reconfigured and transformed itself into his signature weapon. Each virus fell in one shot from the cannon, but it left little to no dent in the swarm of them. They seemed to care little for their fallen brethren as they continued to meander in their own business. "What's wrong with them? Why aren't they fighting back?"

"It's definitely fishy… Judging by their looks though, the viruses must be attracted to something that's here." RockmanEXE thought for a moment on what would attract such a large amount of viruses. "It could be that burst of energy detected earlier. That would mean darkloids might be behind this."

"Well we better find it before—" the cross fused net-op began but was interrupted by the loud sound of machinery collapsing upon itself along with a familiar roar.

"Damn these viruses! Damn these infernal contraptions!" Beastman yelled as he cut through both metal and viruses like butter. "And damn that Bubbleman for getting lost! How am I supposed to—"

"I-Is that…?" R Rockman began, until he met eye to eye with the savage darkloid that they came to recognize.

"What… What are **you** doing here?" the darkloid exclaimed. It was strange enough that the net saver was coincidentally in the abandoned facility at the same time the dimensional field was up. "You're the one that caused this, aren't you?" The question itself was completely rhetorical however as Beastman had already lunged to slice the boy in two before he could give a semblance of an answer. R Rockman just barely dodged the attack as the growling darkloid flew past him. With his buster raised, readying for a counter attack, the net saver couldn't help but answer Beastman's question anyways.

"I don't know what you're talking about, but I'm here to kick your sorry butt back to where you came from!"

* * *

"Denpa Henkan! Hoshikawa Subaru, On Air!"

Nothing happened. Subaru could swear that he heard the mocking whispers of the wind in the prevailing silence.

"Warrock… this is the 3rd time. It's getting a bit embarrassing yelling something like that out loud for no reason…"

"Alright, Alright… Let me just figure out the problem, and we can try it again!" the alien shifted back into the disconnected Hunter VG, ignoring the boy's loud groan. "Hum… Maybe if I do this… and that…"

"It could it be the fact that it doesn't detect our registration code anymore. The Hunter VG was made to certify those who can Denpa Henkan." Subaru again took a look at the error message the device displayed. It phased in and out between white noise and fragmented images. "It's strange though… I've never heard of the Hunter VG actually losing complete reception." There was a sense of nostalgia looking at the static-like screen. He could hear a familiar buzz in his ear that was reminiscent of… the Meteor Server.

_Preparing stabilization process…_

"Kid, you haven't noticed yet?"

"E-Eh?" Subaru broke out of his thoughts fast enough to catch Warrock's words, but not necessarily having it register in his head.

"Geez, look around! Don't you notice anything strange?" Warrock re-visualized out of the device. "Use those glasses of yours!"

Subaru tried to push the growing migraine to the back of his mind as he put on his visualizer once again, and just as the alien suggested, he looked around. Then it started to click in his mind. "Th-There's absolutely no wave roads anywhere!"

"And I can't sense a trace of any wave roads in a mile radius either." Growled the AM Wave being, "Wherever we are… it's a place that doesn't utilize—H-Hey! Subaru!" Warrock turned his attention immediately to the sound of a small "thud" where the boy had collapsed. Seeing him clutching his head in pain made the alien panic. "Ooy! What's wrong?"

_Compatible Host Found… Continuing stabilization…_

"A-Augh…I-It's… th-this sound… I…" Subaru murmured his words through clenched teeth. His grip tightened around his head, trying vainly to squeeze the irritating noise out of his brain. "It's like… na-nails on a chalkboard!"

Realization hit Warrock like a ton of bricks as the memory of the final battle came back to him. "It must be that extra exposure to Noise. His body can't take the—" He cursed himself for not noticing the difference of resilience as an AM being sooner, but he had no idea what effects Noise had on humans. There was nothing he could do for him but wait it out and hope for the best. "Damn it…"

There was no time to waste though as small footsteps started to echo through the halls outside. A small yellow helmet wearing metool poked its head through the door, pickaxe in hand. "Met!" it yelled out after being spotted by Warrock. The alien's low growl sent the tiny virus running. No doubt, it was heading off to find the rest of its pack for reinforcements. He'd hate to push the kid anymore then he had to, put it was literally an emergency.

"Kid! Common! Pull yourself together for a second. This is no time to be dozing off!" Warrock placed his ethereal claw on the boy's shoulders and shook him as gently as he could.

_Stabilization Complete. Initiating next process…_

"I…I think I'm fine… for now…" Subaru muttered in a hoarse voice. He was still noticeably breathing heavily, but at least he was able to stand. The sound of many tiny footsteps began to draw near to their location. Taking a deep breath, Subaru relaxed his shoulders. He sighed in relief as the noise was surely and steadily growing fainter in his head. "Alright. Let's try it again."

"That's my boy! We're going to go buck wild on these viruses!"

"Erm… Did… you actually make any modifications to the Hunter VG?"

"Well… I smashed some programs here and there. Maybe I hit that confirmation-what-not you were going on about. But enough talk!"

"Well, I guess it's all or nothing." Subaru raised his arm in the air, Hunter VG at hand. "Denpa Henkan! Hoshikawa Subaru, On Air!"

Green light poured out of the small device, engulfing the boy. It was strange though. Something felt amiss.

_Initializing Integration… 2%_

Subaru could swear he heard that small whisper of noise, similar to that of the Meteor Server's as Warrock's power washed over him. As the light subsided, Subaru had transformed into the familiar figure of Rockman. The new form that the Hunter VG granted was different from his previous transformations in that Warrock was no longer literally a part of his arm. Rather, an extra armor piece was attached where the alien's head used to be with a screen similar to that of the Hunter VG. Warrock primarily talked through it as a substitute. Though Subaru had to admit, it was awfully awkward having his own hand talk to him at times. It was a welcomed change.

"Warrock… did you hear that?"

"What are you talking about, kid?"

"Well, it was like… it said something along the lines of… erm…" Subaru began, but paused as he noticed the many small yellow hard hats that had surrounded them already. There were easily over twenty of them. It was a wonder how they didn't notice the things earlier. "E-Eh?"

"Met!" One helmet popped up to reveal the metool that Warrock had scared off previously. As if in sync, each of the yellow hard hats seemed to come alive as tiny eyes revealed themselves underneath the oversized helmets. "Met met! Met!" the tiny virus commanded the group, lifting its pickaxe high and slamming it onto the ground. Each of the metools followed suit, sending shockwaves all aimed at him.

Rockman jumped upwards, causing the many shockwaves to collide with each other at the one point where he stood. "Th-That was too close!"

With the new advancements of the Hunter VG, visualization of a downloaded battle chip caused it to materialize easier then before. With a simple verbal confirmation, battle cards could easily be used on the fly. "Battle card: Cannon!" Subaru yelled out as his right hand reconfigured itself to a blaster that carried a lot more boom then his simple rockbuster ever could.

Taking aim, he fired the devastating one-shot blast. It decimated a third of the little viruses, sending the remaining ones in a frenzied panic. The remaining metools scurried about, their courage in their numbers obviously was faltering. One unlucky metool however had the misfortune of being face planted into the ground as Rockman landed foot first on the poor thing's head. Seeing the door out to the hall wide open, he quickly bolted for the door as more viruses began to materialize in the room. "Why are all these viruses here any—"

_Integration… 23%_

"—ways…?" Rockman looked around for the source of the voice. "That voice again…Where is it coming from?"

"Rockman! Puku!" An unfamiliar voice yelled out to him. Quickly turning to the origin of the voice, Subaru couldn't help but contemplate what exactly he was looking at. In a pile of junk was a short and plump looking blue man that gave off the feeling that was akin to most wave beings. It was obvious that this chubby stranger was trying to wriggle his way out of the mess he stuck himself into. "We meet again puku! You're fortunate that I'm choosing to spare you a good beating. Puku puku!"

"Um… Do I know you?"

"Watch out kid, this could be a trap!" Warrock growled in his ear.

"W-W-What puku?" the stranger looked at him with utter disbelief. "You don't remember me, Bubbleman puku?"

"I think you might have me confused for someone else…"

"This is an outrage puku!" Bubbleman ignored the boy's comment, oblivious to the many differences between the two people he was confused with. "I-I know that I fail sometimes… b-but…puku!" The darkloid's thick lower lip began to quiver and his eyes began to water as he cried out, "It doesn't mean you have to forget me! Puku~!"

"A-Ah! I'm sorry! Here, let me help you out!" Grabbing the blue darkloid's two hands that were able to stick out from the pile of junk, Rockman pulled with all his strength. Though, he may have used a bit too much as Bubbleman was sent flying from the extra force used. "S-Sorry…Bubbleman was it?" He apologized once again as Bubbleman landed alternatively from a metal junk pile and into a pile of garbage. Today really just wasn't his day.

"What are you trying to do? Kill me puku?" Bubbleman waved his arms frantically.

_Integration… 55% … _

Subaru pushed the incessant voice back to the recesses of his mind as he focused on the stranger brushing the foul goop off his self. "Erm… I was wondering whether you know exactly where we are."

"Puku puku… Are you mocking me? You think I'll fall for one of your tricks, Rockman puku? Why I oughta—"

**Beep… Beep…. Beep…. Beep…. Beep….**

An electronic beeping seemed to be coming from a device Bubbleman was keeping at his side. The darkloid himself didn't seem to notice as he kept ranting on.

"U-Uhm… I think that device of yours is ringing…" Rockman motioned towards the origin of the beeping. It was a rectangular black box with a small antenna at the top. Its little screen flashed red in rhythm with the beeps. Rockman could feel his heart began to race oddly as he heard the rhythmic beating of the electronic sound.

"O-Oh… OH?" Bubbleman grabbed the device that hung loosely at his side, staring intently at the small flashing screen. "The origin of the energy spike is nearby puku! It must be coming from somewhere puku…"

Moving the device left and right varied the rhythm of the beep. From what Subaru could guess, it functioned like a radar of sorts that was used to detect energy signatures. Apparently, the stranger was looking for something specific to what was set in the radar. "Ah, the location..?" Rockman tried to question Bubbleman again.

"I don't have time for you right now puku!" Bubbleman angrily snapped back, but not breaking his concentration on the device. As he pointed it towards Rockman, or at least what he thought was R Rockman, the frequency of the beeps increased. "Out of my way, Rockman! Puku!" Shoving the oblivious boy aside, Bubbleman proceeded to move forward. Though, as he moved further away from the boy, the frequency decreased. "Eeeeh? It's not here puku? Then where-"

Before Bubbleman could finish his sentence, another strange figure crashed through the wall and slammed into the blue darkloid. The two crashed into the same pile of junk that Rockman had unceremoniously pulled him out of. Subaru would've laughed out of the sheer misfortune, but it seemed a bit mean.

"A-Are you alright?" Running over to see how Bubbleman was doing, Rockman couldn't help but notice the other figure's more intimidating look. It vaguely reminded him of Wolf Forest.

"You won't get away Beastman!" another voice yelled out from behind. R Rockman had jumped through the freshly made hole in the wall to see not only Beastman, but also Bubbleman and another person at their side. He paused a second as he looked at the new comer. There was an uncanny resemblance, but…

"W-W-What? Puku? Two Rockman?"

Subaru turned to look at the new stranger. Things were just getting weirder and weirder. Not only did he not know where he was, but he had no idea what exactly was happening. Though, as the two Rockman looked at each other, the same thought crossed their minds.

Sure, there were some similarities. But was it really that hard to tell the difference between the two?

"Who are you?" R Rockman yelled out, obviously on his toes about whether his apparent double was a threat. "Another darkloid?"

"Uh… Darkloid?" The accusation carried no meaning for Subaru. It only served to confuse him more. "What—"

_Integration… 95% … Beginning Final Countdown… _

"A-Auugh…" Subaru keeled over as he felt his heart race and the noise in his mind return. Gripping his head with one hand, he turned to look up at his accuser as he prepared for battle. "I… I don't know what… you're talking about!"

"I don't care if there are two Rockman or if there were a thousand." Beastman burst from the pile of machinery where he had landed. His claws raised high ready to slice anything as he roared out. "I'm still going to rip you to shreds!" He lunged towards the closest "Rockman" with his claws spread, which unfortunately happened to be Subaru who had simply ran over to the darkloids out of concern.

96%...

"Watch out!" R Rockman yelled out to him. _Why would a darkloid attack a darkloid? It didn't make sense unless…_

R Rockman aimed and shot at the approaching darkloid before he could even scratch the other boy. It hit him squarely on the chest, knocking him back a foot. The beast's eyes swerved to meet the cross-fusioned human's.

97%...

Rockman knew that the more human looking stranger was saying something to him, but he couldn't make out the words. He saw the lips move, but all he could hear was the head splitting noise as it continued to countdown. "W-Warrock… what's…?" his words came out in a soft whisper. But there was no reply.

98%...

"You… You're going to pay for that!" Beastman roared as he charged again. His target changed to R Rockman as he dodged the rockbuster's coming blasts one after another. In a blink of an eye, Beastman was already face to face with him.

"N-Netto-kun! Watch out!" Netto could hear his netnavi's voice ring in his head clearly as he ducked to dodge a swipe of Beastman's claws. A moment later and his head could have been cut clean off.

99%...

**Beeeeeeeeeeeeee~**

Bubbleman's radar was ringing out. The screen was lit with a bright red. "What's happening puku? The energy signature is here puku! B-B-B-But where? Puku?" Bubbleman looked frantically around for what device was emanating such energy.

**Eeeeeeeeeeeeeee~**

_100%... Meteor Server Integration Complete. Initializing Black Ace Program…_

Subaru felt it. Something similar to a sense of detachment from what he can describe as his "self". It was the same feeling he had in his battle against the Crimson Dragon, however it felt different. It felt less controllable. He wasn't sure what Warrock was feeling, or even if he was really at his side. All he knew was that his conscious was being slowly stripped away. What was left was just pure emotion as the power welled up inside of him.

_Accessing Meteor Server…_

Rockman's eyes shot open, his pupils dilated. He stood up slowly, releasing his grip on his head. Only Bubbleman witnessed his recovery as Beastman and R Rockman continued to battle. They were concentrated on their fight as R Rockman parried the darkloid's slash with a long sword.

Corruption in the shape of noise fragments began to form. The air was becoming rich in Noise. Slowly, they tinted into a red hue as the bits congregated into streams.

"W-What's happening, puku?" Bubbleman yelled out. He'd never witnessed such a phenomenon occur in the real world nor the cyber world.

"…Finalize…" Rockman muttered under his breath as the streams of red noise began to circle him. They formed a familiar red shell that encased him in darkness, as he felt change manifest in himself. The surge of energy did not go unnoticed as both R Rockman and the fervent Beastman quickly turned to see its source.

"What the hell is that?" Beastman barked out towards his companion.

"I have no idea, puku! I was looking at this radar puku… and then the other Rockman puku… and then this red stuff puku…!" Bubbleman stuttered, unsure of what he saw himself.

"A… red orb?"

"Get ready, Netto-kun! Something's coming!"

The red shell began to crack under the power that was being encased inside. Light began to stream out from the small slits until the shell finally shattered, revealing the familiar dark armored figure, his wings pulsing with a red glow. Crimson eyes began to slowly open as the figure muttered its name, just loud enough for the other three to hear. "Black Ace…!"

A terrible sound was emitted as the traces of Noise began to dissipate. Though the black armored figure seemed un-phased, Beastman, Bubbleman, and R Rockman were not so lucky. The screech only lasted for a few seconds, but it was enough to rattle anyone's bones. They didn't have to fight the winged stranger to know that he was powerful. None of them made a move, frozen in fear. Only the radar's sound hung in the air.

**Eeeeeeeeeeeeeee~**

"Th-The energy's origin that we're looking for is coming from that navi puku!" Bubbleman pointed at Black Ace Rockman as he hovered slightly in the air. He slowly descended, making little to no obvious motion. Though silent, there was a threatening air around him. "W-W-We better head back puku. And report to Shademan-sama puku!"

"You… You expect me to run from here with my tail between my legs?" Beastman roared out. His own pride hurt to encounter any such being that surpassed him to this extent. The darkloid was preparing to rush into attack, but the dark armored stranger had already appeared right in front of him. Beastman paused in surprise to see such speed, only to be blown away by a strong gust of wind. R Rockman too felt the powerful winds push him back against one of the walls of the warehouse despite not being the direct target of the attack.

"Typhoon Dance…!" Black Ace Rockman murmured as he released the wild gale. It flung the darkloid into the air, causing him to hit the dimensional area's barrier. Electric currents sparked over Beastman's body as he roared his words of revenge before logging out.

"B-Beastman puku!" Bubbleman yelled out before logging out as well. There was no way he was going to stick around with something that could take out that savage darkloid in one hit. All that was left was R Rockman and the mysterious figure. They stared each other off. One held obvious indifference in their eyes while the other, fear.

"Who… Who are you…?" R Rockman tried to hide his nervousness to no avail. He hesitantly lifted his rockbuster defensively aiming at the stranger to his mistake. The action prompted the dark armored stranger to lift his own default buster in response. However, there was no hesitation as Black Ace Rockman pulled the trigger, sending a rapid stream of shots at the net saver. R Rockman quickly jumped away from the blast, only to see his opponent come straight at him in the air. With a swift kick, R Rockman was sent downwards crashing into the warehouse buildings.

"Auugh…" Gripping his hurt side, he looked up to see the figure looking down at him from the sky. "This guy's really tough…!"

"This is too dangerous! We have to retreat." RockmanEXE's voice chimed into Netto's head. "At our current state, I don't think…"

Though before the netnavi could finish, the dimensional area had already begun to disappear. No doubt the absence of the darkloids is what caused it. The red eyed stranger zoomed off himself out of eye's view. Netto breathed a sigh of relief as his cross fusion came undone. His whole body was sore from not only the fight with Beastman, but also from the beating he had gotten from the stranger.

"Netto-kun, are you alright?" The netnavi's concerned voice piped up from the PET. He knew that cross fusion sapped the energy of the user to a great extent, but also the damage they sustained from the fight could possibly be even more extensive. Cross fusion protects its user to a certain extent, but the user was still human.

"I'm alright, Rockman. Just a bit tired out." He tried to show that it was only a few scratches to his concerned navi, giving him a thumbs-up in assurance. "I think we better report to Meijin-san about what happened."

"Maybe we should check up on that other boy we saw earlier? I just hope he didn't get caught up in any of the cross fire."

"Ah! I almost forgot!" Netto slapped his forehead with his palm. With swarms of viruses, darkloids, and a powerful navi on the loose, he nearly forgot that there was a civilian in the area as well. "We better go see if he's alright!"

And at that, Netto zoomed off to where he last left the other boy.

* * *

"Subaru… Are you sure you're alright?"

"Y-Yeah." He replied. His voice was a bit shaky, but there wasn't a scratch on his body. "Thanks for worrying about me, Warrock." The two of them had appeared back at the room they had first been in. It was a result of a forced pulse-out when in Denpa Henkan to be transported back to one's first location.

"You worried me for a second there, kid." The alien folded his arms in an annoyed manner. "I couldn't get a hold of you for awhile. That device of yours is busted."

"E-Eh? Really?" Subaru glanced at his Hunter VG. It was true. The thing was cracked all over as if the hardware literally exploded from inside. It seemed almost beyond repair at the moment.

"It's probably the Noise again. No surprise that it finally overloaded. But it's strange… There's no waveroads, no satellite signal… Where could it have come from?"

Subaru contemplated on the facts. What happened while in Black Ace mode was as usual, a blur. It wasn't the same feeling however of drawing energy from something far away. It felt more similar to as if the energy originated from…

"Warrock! I think I got it. What happened in our battle against the Crimson Dragon… the Meteor-!"

"Hey! Are you alright!" the same boy with the blue bandana burst into the warehouse room. It scared Subaru to death as the place was still nearly pitch black with only the moon to give a semblance of illumination in the area. "Those viruses didn't get you or anything, right?"

"A-Ah… yeah…um…"

"Did you see some sinister looking guy with wings around here?" the boy suddenly questioned him. It wasn't what Subaru was expecting, especially from someone he just met.

"Sinister?" Subaru was a bit reluctant to say anything more, judging by the tone the boy was using. He didn't remember quite clearly, but Subaru was fairly sure he didn't see this boy while in Denpa Henkan either.

"Yeah, he was in all black, and he sort of had this scary kind of air around him. He sort of just disappeared after the dimensional area fell."

"Dimensional… area?" Subaru assumed the boy was talking about the dome that materialized out of nowhere. For now, he wanted to at least keep his identity as Rockman a secret. "I'm not sure who you're talking about… but I was wondering whether you know where we are."

"Are you not from around here?"

"Y-Yeah. I guess so."

"Have you tried looking at your PET?"

"PET?" This was the third time that Subaru had simply repeated one of the boy's words with a confused look. All these unfamiliar terms were being thrown left and right. His puzzled look didn't go unnoticed. In this day and age, everyone had a PET. And for someone that doesn't even know what a PET is, well that would be just plain fishy. Of course, Netto couldn't quite place it, but he knew there was something off about the kid.

"Who are you exactly?" Netto leaned towards Subaru until he was just inches from his face. "Are you sure you didn't see anything suspicious?"

"No… I was just… caught up in the moment. I'm just not thinking quite straight and…" Subaru trailed off, unsure of what to say. He wasn't sure what answer to give that would satisfy the other boy. Thankfully, he was cut off by a different voice that came from Netto's PET.

"Netto-kun, a call from Meijin-san!"

"Oh?" Netto turned to face the opposite wall with his back towards Subaru. Subaru heard him talking, but none of it was particularly audible. He heard small tid bits of a "suspicious person". No doubt, he already knew that they were talking about him.

"Kid, maybe you should make a run for it now. It beats sticking around here getting interrogated from this guy." Warrock muttered into Subaru's ear.

"That's no good, Warrock. It'll make us look even more suspicious." Subaru sighed. He turned his attention back to the other boy who had finished his call.

"Alright, you!" Netto pointed an accusing finger at Subaru. "I'm placing you under custody to be questioned under my authority as a Net Saver!"

"Eeeeh?" was the exasperated reply that Subaru gave. He knew he could've been in trouble, but to be actually put into questioning by the police seemed a bit much.

"Meijin-san didn't phrase it like that…" RockmanEXE spoke up from the PET.

"Ah, Rockman, you're ruining my fun! It's so much cooler to say it like this!"

The two of them didn't know it, but both RockmanEXE and Subaru let out a deep sigh at the same time as Netto laughed triumphantly at his new power of authority as a net saver.

* * *

"Report." Shademan simply said as he sat on his throne. Both Beastman and Bubbleman both kneeled before him. The darkloid leader noticed Beastman's wounds, but did not question them.

"We encountered Rockman yet again…" Beastman began. "Along with…"

"Another Rockman puku!" Bubbleman finished Beastman's sentence to the savage darkloid's dismay.

"Wrong! They look nothing alike!" Beastman tried to quarrel with his partner, but Bubbleman continued to report his own findings.

"He transformed into an extremely powerful black armored net navi puku!" Bubbleman tried to emphasize how powerful an adversary the mysterious navi was. "Beastman got creamed by him in a second puku!"

Bubbleman earned himself a death wish from Beastman through his report on what happened.

Though the information was indeed interesting, Shademan replied in the same annoyed tone he usually used with Bubbleman. "… That was not your mission. Did you find where the energy signature was?"

"That's the thing puku! That extremely powerful net navi was the source puku!"

Shademan thought deeply into the subject. "A navi that is powerful enough to attract the attention of the mysterious man…" the darkloid said under his breath. "Perhaps I can use this information to get the upper hand…"

"Shademan-sama puku. About my first dark chip puku…" Bubbleman rubbed his grubby hands together in anticipation.

"You're right. You deserve a reward…" Shademan however turned to look at the disgruntled darkloid that had been silent since Bubbleman's report. "Beastman. I grant you a dark chip. I trust that you will use your experience with this 'mysterious navi' so that you can bring him to me."

"Whaaaaa? Puku?"

A black chip with purple streaks along its exterior appeared in front of the feral darkloid. A dark crystal at its center seemed to give an evil glow. Beastman gladly received his prize, "Thank you, Shademan-sama. I will not let you down" With a last sneer aimed towards Bubbleman, Beastman logged out of the darkloid's base server.

"What about me, puku?"

"Watch your tone, Bubbleman!" Shademan glared down at the chubby darkloid. "I'm giving you a different mission. It would be one where you cannot rely on the strength of another to get through. If you can prove your worth during this mission, I will grant you what you desire."

"Y-Yes Shademan-sama." Bubbleman dejectedly said as he too logged out.

Shademan was left sitting on his throne. He couldn't hide his smile any longer. "Heh heh… A dark armored navi. Preposterous."

* * *

The mysterious man reviewed the video footage over once again in the darkness of his lair. He couldn't help but lean towards the screen slightly to get a closer look at what he was seeing. The battle between R Rockman and Beastman was unimportant in the grand scheme of things. What drew his attention was the appearance and the battle skills of the one named "Black Ace".

"The strange energy is what drew in the viruses. Though his appearance made them seemingly disappear…" Leaning backwards into his chair, the man stared at the paused screen that focused in on this Black Ace. "It's as if this navi assimilated all this raw energy in the area…"

"Sir…" A woman entered the darkness of the room. Her features were illuminated from the glow of the flashing screens. Her braided brown hair flowed down over one of her shoulders. "If I may suggest…"

"There's no need Yuriko." The man raised a hand to silence her as he continued. "If this navi were to hinder our operations, then it would become necessary for it to be eliminated along with the other net savers." With a small click of a button, the screen changed itself to a different display. This time it showed the dark armored navi fighting off R Rockman. "However, at this time we have no idea what its affiliation is. For now… we can wait."

"Yes, sir."

* * *

AN: Thank you, and I hope you guys didn't get too confused with three Rockman roaming about (IE. RockmanEXE, R Rockman, and Ryuusei no Rockman). In addition, I think I made Bubbleman really annoying sometimes. Ah heh heh…

I hope you enjoyed reading chapter 2. It's nearly twice as long as chapter 1!

If it isn't too much trouble, a review is much appreciated. Feedback is welcomed especially!


	3. Interrogation! Sudden Attack!

AN: Another huge chapter for you guys! Thanks for waiting!

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

**Chapter 3: Interrogation? Sudden Attack!**

It wasn't necessarily a waste of his time. However, Enzan could think of better things he could be doing. In his eyes, he was taken out of his important mission on tracking the production of dark chips. Questioning a random civilian seemed to be a big downgrade from that.

"Your name please?" Enzan scanned the boy who sat across from him. His eyes particularly noticed the strange device that was on the boy's arm. It was cracked all over, but he could tell it was technology that he had not seen advertised before.

"Hoshikawa Subaru…" was the hesitant reply he received. The boy was obviously nervous as he continued to fidget in his chair. "Have I… done anything wrong, Ijuuin-san?"

Enzan let out a deep sigh. It was a special request from Meijin to question this individual, so he could not object. The goal was to make it seem less like an interrogation and more of a conversation so as not to intimidate the subject. Since they were around the same age, it seemed like he was the prime candidate. God forbid letting Netto do it.

"No, Hoshikawa-kun. And please, just call me Enzan. No need to be so formal." He tried to talk more casually, but it was hard to hide his dismay. It was strange that the name of Ijuuin carried little meaning for the boy. Still, ignorance didn't warrant an arrest of any kind. Why in the world would Netto bring in this guy for questioning, he was about to find out. "You're not in trouble or anything. I just want to ask you a few questions. For example, you're not from around here are you?"

"Um… First, where exactly are we?" It was particularly hard to answer questions without having his owns answered. Subaru rubbed the back of his neck in worry upon asking. That same question had already earned him a ticket to this Net Police station. Or at least, that's what he heard it was called. He guessed it was similar to the Satella Police in function. "I'm sorry if it seems a bit strange, but I really don't know."

"It's understandable. I heard you sustained some injuries, including a head concussion." Enzan motioned briefly at some papers that were laid out neatly on the table. They were reports written by Netto himself. Albeit… They were lacking in the professionally written department. It was to be expected. "We're currently in Japan right now, but I'll elaborate on some other subjects I heard you were unfamiliar with."

Enzan reached for his pocket, procuring a red and black device. To Subaru, it looked similar to a Star Carrier in size, but different in more ways then one. "This is a PET…" Enzan continued as he pressed its central button. The device opened up to show a small screen. "It's short for Personal Terminal. AI programs called NetNavis help manage not only our Personal Terminals… but also help us access and utilize the Net itself." It was a bit strange to go over third grade information to someone his age. In today's society, all of it should be common knowledge.

"Personal Terminal… NetNavis… the Net…" Subaru rolled the words on his tongue as he tried to search his memory for the terms. They were familiar somehow, as if he'd learned it in school before. It all began to click as he remembered some key words. Subaru shot up from his chair, nearly knocking his seat over, as he exclaimed, "You mean like Internet Technology!"

"Y-Yes. That's correct." Taken aback by the boy's sudden realization of an obvious fact, Enzan was nearly positive that the boy suffered from some form of head trauma.

Subaru remembered clearly now. In their history lessons, they were taught how a long time ago, humans used to rely on Internet Technology. Familiar terms such as Personal Terminals and Net Navigators were often accompanied with the age of the Net. The abbreviation of PET was unfamiliar, but Personal Terminal he recognize. However, the age of the Internet had long past and was replaced with something different and more advanced. Subaru couldn't help but inquire, "What about Wave Technology?"

"Wave… Technology?"

"You know, like EM waves? Electro-magnetic waves that come from and were managed by the three satellites?"

Enzan shook his head to show his unfamiliarity with what he was talking about. It was definite now. This boy was off his rocker. "I'm sorry, Hoshikawa-kun. But I'm not sure what you're talking about. Now if you'll please sit down again…"

"A-Ah… yes…" Subaru blushed slightly. It was a bit embarrassing making such a big commotion. This was especially so since his questioner showed little reaction towards his epiphany on the subject. "Sorry… Ijuu—I mean Enzan…" he corrected himself quickly.

After picking up the documents on the table and promptly straightening them out, Enzan looked straight at Subaru as he took his seat. It sent shivers down the brown haired boy's spine as his eyes seemed to be analyzing him from the inside out. Their eyes met briefly until Enzan broke the awkward silence. "Anyways… let's continue then… … Subaru…"

The change in formality was sudden, but Subaru simply nodded. "A-Alright…"

* * *

"Auuuuugh! I can't believe I lost so badly to that guy!" Netto moaned loudly as he skated on the sidewalk. He flailed his arms to the left and right, PET in hand, out of irritation of just the thought of losing. "Next time I see that black armored red winged freak, I'm going to get some payback!"

"N-N-Netto-kun!" RockmanEXE tried to calm his operator, but the shaking of the PET made him dizzy. "F-F-First, you should be getting to school! You-You-You're going to be late again!"

"Ah! You're right!" Picking up the pace, Netto began to zoom off towards school. With years of practice, the brunette was able to weave through the crowds of people with ease. "Geez, Rockman! Why didn't you remind me sooner! Now I'm going to be late!"

"If you'd only wake up when I tell you to, then this wouldn't happen!" the NetNavi pleaded. This wasn't necessarily the first nor would it be the last time that this happened. In fact, it happened practically every morning. However, after his NetOp brought up the topic, he couldn't help but think more about what happened. "But Netto-kun… about that stranger, I don't think it's wise to pick a fight with someone like that. I have a really bad feeling. There was all this… negative energy around him."

"Negative energy?" Netto briefly glanced down at his PET, making sure to keep his concentration primarily on what was in front of him. "What do you mean?"

"I can't describe it. It's not an evil aura or anything… but…" RockmanEXE put his hand to his chest, as if searching his soul for the words to describe such a feeling. "It gave me an uneasy feeling… especially when hearing that terrible noise."

"Tell me about it! I swore that my head was about to split into two when I heard it!" Netto ruffled his hair. Just remembering the event made his head hurt. It took all he had to keep up the cross fusion at that time when the noise resounded throughout the dimensional area. "When I think about it, there was all this weird red stuff that was in the air when that happened…"

"I didn't get a good shot of it, but I think that stuff gathered around that other blue NetNavi that had materialized in the dimensional area." Thinking back on the subject a bit, RockmanEXE pondered more about the other blue navi. Could it have been another darkloid? "I'm not sure whether he was controlling the red fragments of data that materialized… or whether it was controlling him."

"Hmph! Either way…!" With new found conviction, Netto raised one arm up in the air. "Next time I see him, I'm going to teach him a lesson he'll never—"

**WHAM…**

… was the sound made as he slammed face first into a telephone pole. Onlookers simply shook their heads at the sight. It was obviously due to the boy's inattentiveness to look what was directly in front of him.

* * *

"I'll make you a deal, Subaru." Enzan motioned over towards the broken device on the boy's arm. "I can give you a new PET in exchange for that broken one."

"Eh, really?" While Subaru was a bit reluctant to give up his Hunter VG, there was little choice. Enzan had helped explain a few more things, but the whole picture wasn't painted clearly quite yet. Sure, his BrotherBands would once again need to be established, but a broken Hunter VG wasn't going to do him any good. The best thing he could do was except the offer.

"There is a catch however…" Enzan added in, causing the boy to flinch just a bit. Obviously, nothing was free. "If you'll please cooperate with me, I want to get some answers from you."

"…S-Sure…" Subaru reluctantly replied.

"Okay, let me get a few papers." Standing up, the Net Savior turned towards the door. He took a quick glance back at Subaru before exiting the cramped room.

"That guy is definitely getting on my nerves." Warrock finally spoke up. The alien had been keeping quiet at Subaru's request on the account that it would seem extra strange if he were talking to himself. No point in having people thinks he was crazier then they already thought. "Why don't we just grab _his_ PET and leave?"

"You know we can't do that!"

"You're not really considering to…" Warrock grumbled as he stared at the door the boy exited from. No doubt, he was planning something in his head to somehow defy the other kid.

Shifting his Visualizer down over his eyes, Subaru looked over at his companion directly. "I don't know yet, but I can't exactly pass up his offer either."

"The guy told us that we're in 20XX!" The warrior AM-being yelled out. "And you actually believe all that? Feh! It makes me angry to think that he would blatantly lie like that, but it makes me angrier to think that you'd fall for such an obvious—"

"W-Warrock!" Subaru tried to hush his partner up. Though no one else could hear nor see the wave being, the boy felt it necessary to calm the flailing beast down. "I admit that it's impossible for it to be true… However I don't think Enzan is lying either."

"What makes you say that?"

"I don't think he has any reason to lie about something as strange as… the date or time we are in. What would be the point?" There was silence for a bit as the two of them thought over the information presented to them. What Subaru said was true, but at the same time it didn't make any sense for them to be where they are. Hoping to give some form of explanation for their predicament, Subaru began to ask, "Warrock… do you know what happened in our final battle against the Crimson Dragon?"

"The final battle?" Warrock turned to see Subaru looking down at his feet. Obviously, his own ignorance had been bothering him for a long time. It must've been rough for him, being thrown into a completely new place without even a clue as to how he got there. "You don't remember kid?"

"I… don't even remember what happened at that warehouse after a certain point." Clutching his head, Subaru tried to search his memory for the events that he should have been aware of. However, all he could remember were vague feelings and emotions during the time. "But I have a feeling that whatever happened during our fight with the Crimson Dragon… it may have something to do with our situation."

"Hum… Well, how should I say this...?" Warrock crossed his arms, and pondered on what words he wanted to use to describe it. "There was a rush of noise, and we obtained… an immense power. From what I remember, we pulled your old man out of the Crimson Dragon's core shortly after."

Subaru breathed a sigh of relief. It was like a huge burden was lifted off his chest to know that his father was alright. However, he knew it wasn't the end of the story as Warrock continued.

"But the dang thing broke up into noise fragments and I felt you were overwhelmed with fear. The emotion was so strong, and with the Noise levels so high, I lost connection with you for a good while… until I found you collapsed in that warehouse."

"And…?"

"Truth be told…" The alien seemed to feel slightly ashamed as he admitted, "When we encountered those weird people at the warehouse, the Noise level spiked out of nowhere. I couldn't contact you after that point either since that device of yours blew a fuse. I'm as much as blind to the incident as you are."

"I see…" Subaru muttered. Folding his hands over his mouth, he couldn't help but shake the uneasiness he felt. He hadn't told Warrock just yet about his speculation about the Meteor… and where exactly the energy was coming from. Then again, there were a lot of things to worry about in particular. He was in a new place, with new people … and apparently a new time. The two of them silently contemplated on what to make of their situation.

* * *

"Blues, what did you find?"

"Nothing on 'Echo Ridge' Enzan-sama." The red NetNavi replied from the PET. It was hard to judge his expression due to the shades that masked his eyes, but there was some uneasiness in the navi's voice. "There is nothing on record of any place named Echo Ridge on Earth that we know of."

"…Do you think he might be lying?" Enzan muttered to himself. Cupping one hand over his mouth, he contemplated the possibility. "It's the only thing that he was willing to tell us so far… but it seems like it leads to another dead end."

"It could be that… he may not remember." Blue added in. From what he had gathered from listening to the conversation through the PET, it wasn't necessarily out of the question. The boy seemed to not remember a lot of things.

Enzan considered the likelihood of it. If it were true, then his job might get a bit harder. It was necessary to at least find out the identity of the person he was questioning to make the information gathered legitimate. Looking down at the papers he had picked up, the Net Savior couldn't help but shake his head in dismay as he scanned its poorly written contents. He grasped the door knob leading to the 'interrogation' room, and entered.

* * *

"Pukuuuuuuuu!" A yell echoed throughout the vastness of cyber space as Bubbleman trudged through data stream to data stream. He was near tears as his own ineffectiveness as a darkloid began to wear his heart thin. "What am I going to do puku? I can't mess this mission up puku… it is super-super important puku."

"Oooh? Super important you say?"

Bubbleman quickly turned to see a familiar but not exactly friendly face. "N-N-Needleman! Puku! You're here puku!"

"So, you're the one that Shademan sent?" Needleman sneered at the sorry excuse for a darkloid. "Just what we needed… dead weight."

"Not entirely." A voice resounded between the two navis. A small screen materialized itself, showing the face of a young brunette woman with her long hair braded to one side. Bubbleman immediately identified her as one of the mysterious man's accomplices.

"Y-Yuriko puku!" Bubbleman floundered his words. While he knew that they were to meet up together, he still couldn't hold back his surprise. To think that a darkloid having an operator was simply preposterous, but he didn't dare say it aloud to the two.

"We can find a use for him. It's all about being… creative." Yuriko continued. Her eyes looked down upon the diminutive darkloid that shuddered at just the mere appearance of the two of them. Her voice was even, yet stern. "You're just here to help me get that brat off my back for a bit… you got that?"

"Don't get any ideas that we're going to be pamperin' you along the way." Needleman leaned down to see Bubbleman eye to eye, sticking his face right in front of him. "It's not our problem if ya get hurt in the process."

"W-What are you planning on doing puku?"

Yuriko smiled, her shades masking the sinister look in her eyes. "You'll see…"

* * *

"Sorry for the wait, Subaru." Enzan entered the small room once again, closing the door behind him. He was carrying a few papers and another PET. The device had a blue and green color scheme in comparison to his red and black one. It coincidentally seemed to match War-Rock to a tee.

"It's no problem." Subaru gave a reassuring smile to the other boy. He shifted up his Visualiser to better see. "It gave me time to think some more on it."

"Are you still having trouble remembering things?" Concern was in his voice, but Subaru knew exactly where his real concern was. "Can you still tell me about what happened at the warehouse?"

"Yes… That I remember clearly…" Subaru lamely lied. Funny he should ask after just talking to Warrock about the vagueness of it.

"Alright. I hope you don't mind that we hurry on with it." Enzan placed the papers and the new PET on the table as he took his seat. He was fixated on Subaru, trying to read his coming expression. "I'm sure you'd like to return home as soon as possible. Your parents must be worried about you."

Subaru couldn't help but wince. There was obvious dismay at the mere mentioning of "home" as Subaru broke eye contact. Enzan picked up on it right away, but his face remained cool and collected. Glancing back down at the papers he had laid on the table, Enzan pushed a particularly poorly drawn picture towards him. From what he could tell, it was supposed to be a picture of him as Rockman. Though to most other onlookers, it probably resembled more of a blob of blue.

"The boy that brought you in, Hikari Netto, was the one that drew this." Enzan was quick to dismiss any notion that might have been ascertained that he himself was responsible for the unique piece of art. "I was wondering whether at the warehouse, you saw this NetNavi?"

"NetNavi? Is he calling us a NetNavi?" Warrock couldn't contain his frustration any longer. It was Enzan's calm and high demeanor that particularly struck the wrong cord for the alien. Though, Subaru ignored it though for the time being. "Why I oughta-!"

"U-Uhm… Well you see…" Subaru had already gone over what he wanted to _not_ say, but he hadn't quite thought through what he was planning _to_ say. "A-All these viruses popped out of nowhere and…"

"And…?"

"This guy showed up…!" Subaru pointed at the blue blob that was supposed to represent Rockman as he continued, "And he took care of the viruses. I thought… I thought I was a goner!"

"Phew. Nice save there, kid." Warrock chimed in. "All my lessons on quick lying have been paying off!"

"Why exactly were you reluctant to share this information though?"

"I don't like being in the center of attention…" What Subaru said wasn't exactly a lie. He always strayed away from drawing attention to himself. No matter how much he changed, there was always that small shyness in him. "And I thought… that maybe I might have been in trouble for being out at night."

Enzan nodded his head in response to acknowledge the answer as he pushed another slip of paper towards him. This time it depicted a black blob with red scribbles coming out from both sides. There were some scribbles of green in there, but none of it was recognizable to Subaru. It seemed familiar though… as if…

"Did you see this NetNavi as well? We have reason to suspect that the two are one and the same, but it's not positive."

"Kid, that's Black Ace." Warrock murmured in his ear. Though Enzan could not see or hear the AM-being, the alien didn't want to surprise the brunette by his sudden voice. "It's the product of what Dread Joker called 'Finalization'."

"Black… Ace…" Subaru mindlessly repeated the words himself. It was as if his heart recognized it, but his brain did not. There was no memory of it, but he was positive he was aware of saying it before.

"You know who this is?" Enzan interrupted the brown haired boy's thoughts. He was sure that the information on the mysterious black navi's name had not been leaked quite yet. "Did you talk to him? See him?"

"N-No… I-!" Subaru began but he never finished his statement. A loud tremor shook the room as the hanging light overhead began to sway back and forth. Something had hit the ground hard. Instantly, it was Enzan that instinctively leapt from his seat, ready for what was to come next.

"It's…!" The net savior began, but he no longer needed to continue as a recognizable translucent dome began to materialize over the Net Police Station and the city blocks around it.

"A… Dimensional Area?" Subaru watched as the surroundings turned a strange hue of colors. "It's what happened at the warehouse!"

"Subaru, stay here!" Enzan shouted at him as he quickly made his exit. "Don't do anything rash. I'll be right back!"

The door slammed behind the boy, leaving Subaru alone. Well, not necessarily alone.

"Kid, haven't we heard something like that before?" Warrock was obviously giddy at the thought of being able to tear things up again. "It's time to go buck wild on this place!"

Subaru looked down at the spare PET on the table that Enzan had carelessly left. He thought for a moment about his options. It was definitely possible for him to simply leave this place and make a run for it. However, having the police on his tail wasn't necessarily an entertaining thought.

Looking around at the vibrant hues of colors that painted the walls and floors, he couldn't help but consider. Judging by what he recollected from his previous experience with this "Dimensional Area", trouble would definitely be brewing. Unlike the last time though, there were a lot of people here that would be put in harms way. He was no hero… but at the same time it wasn't something he could ignore. Quickly grabbing the PET on the table, Subaru gave his reply.

"Alright, let's rock!"

* * *

"Zzzz… I can't eat anymore… Zzzz…"

"Netto-kun!"

"Zzzz … curry…zzzz…"

"Neeeeetto-kun! Get up!" RockmanEXE yelled as loud as he could, but his operator just wouldn't wake up. It'd take someone to bonk the boy on the back of the head to get him to wake up. And a certain pink haired girl delivered just that. With a resounding smack, the young Net Battler was up in an instant, staring blankly at the girl who woke him.

"B-Bluh wuh? M-Meiru-chan?"

"Netto… how long are you going to make Rockman wait?" Meiru had both her hands at her hips. It was lunch time, and Netto found it was a good time for a nap. Staying up late during last night's excursion tired him out, and listening to lectures definitely wasn't going to keep him up.

"Netto-kun!" the NetNavi tried to get his attention away from falling asleep again. There was urgency in his voice. "A call from Enzan!"

"Eeeh? Enzan?"

"There's trouble at the Net Police station! A dimensional area has appeared!"

"Alright, tell him I'm on my way!" Netto exclaimed as he hurriedly jammed the device in his pocket and sprung from his seat. "Meiru-chan! Tell Mariko-sensei I had a stomach ache and had to go home!"

"W-Wait! Netto!" his childhood friend began, but was too late. He'd already zoomed off out the door without saying another word. She just shook her head and sighed. "There he goes again… without even turning in his homework yet."

* * *

"It's about time you got here." Needleman looked over his shoulders to see the figure of R Blues approaching. Broken equipment was strewn about, but most noticeably were the unconscious bodies of the Net Police force that littered the floor. They were easily dispatched by the power of a materialized darkloid. Enzan couldn't help but tense up from just the ruthless appearance of the darkloid radiating dark energy. No doubt, he was utilizing the power of a dark chip. "You wouldn't believe how boring it was waiting for you to show up. I thought I could pass the time by cleaning up the trash." He motioned towards the destruction that he caused with obvious glee.

Clenching his fists, Enzan gave a deathly glare at Needleman. He knew he had to keep calm, but this was too much. Holding his right hand out, a default sword materialized over his arm. In a blink of an eye, he lunged towards Spikeman at a startling speed. "Your only business is with me…!"

Spikeman parried the Net Savior's hasty downwards slash with an extended spike from his arm. They seemed matched in strength, each pushing against the other, as Needleman taunted the boy, "Shi shi shi shi! And I plan on finishing it, boy!" The darkloid's sudden smirk alluded to his coming attack as he sent a swift knee into R Blues' gut, causing him to keel over from the sudden pain. Jumping back to regain his footing, the boy looked up at the laughing face of the darkloid.

Enzan let out the painful gasp he had been holding. Though, he had no time to relax as Needleman continued his assault, aiming his own blaster at the swordsman. He could hear Blues' voice warn him of the coming danger.

Producing shots of literally giant needles, Needleman yelled out his unsubtly named attack, "Needle Cannon!"

Utilizing his mach speeds, R Blues dodged the flurry of needles that zoomed past him. They just barely missed, only one grazing his arm ever so slightly. His composure regained, he began to materialize another sword with a different construction and affinity. "Flame sword!" With a few quick swipes, he cut the coming needle projectiles in two before they could reach him further. His advance was halted however as he heard the blaring alarms throughout the room, and quite possibly the entire buildings. An automated voice began to sound out.

_DANGER! UNAUTHORIZED INTRUSION IN MAIN DATABASE! DANGER! UNAUTHORIZED INTRUSION IN MAIN DATABASE! DANGER…!_

"What?" R Blues looked up at the ceiling's flashing lights. He heard Needleman's snickers over the automated voice's warnings.

"Shi shi shi… It's about time Bubbleman got into the system! Anytime now, he'll be deleting your progress on tracking the dark chips... along with the rest of the information that the Net Police acquired!"

"Damn it!" R Blues cursed as he readied himself to continue the fight. Brandishing his flame sword, he stared steadily at the laughing Needleman. He doubted he could finish off the darkloid in time to save the data from being destroyed. It was only just today that he had returned to the station to submit intelligence acquired on the location of possible dark chip factories, and it was doubtful that it was backed up on a separate hard drive yet. He tried to think over in his head what to do, but came up blank.

"It's time to end this-!" Needleman began as he readied his extended needle but was cut off by the sound of cannon shots and an unfamiliar voice.

"Rockbuster!" the voice yelled out as energy blasts shot out from behind R Blues. It took Needleman by surprise as the shots hit him square in the face. Recognizing the attack name, R Blues turned behind him, expecting the familiar face of R Rockman, only to see an unfamiliar one. For a second, he had thought it was Netto… but there were noticeable differences. For example, a red visor seemed to shield the stranger's eyes from view.

"You're not…!" the Net Savior began, but was caught off guard at the mysterious blue NetNavi's blunt question.

"Don't you need to be getting somewhere?" The stranger yelled at him while he continued to rapidly shoot the darkloid with his default cannon. Enzan didn't question him any further as he headed towards the main computer room. Best to not look a gift horse in the mouth they say.

"You're not going anywh—Blargh!" Needleman tried to stop R Blues' escape in vain as he ate a mouthful of a charged shot from the stranger's buster. He turned his attention to the newly arrived blue NetNavi as he threatened, "You're going to pay for that!"

"Wave Battle… Ride on!" the stranger yelled, ignoring the darkloid's own advances. He ran towards the enraged darkloid sword at hand.

* * *

"This is easy as pie puku!" Bubbleman wobbled casually across the expanse of the Net Police Station's database. He was practically skipping along as the viruses under his control did most of the dirty work for him. "I don't know what they were talking about it not being an easy task puku! It's a cake walk puku! After destroying this database puku, Shademan will surely—"

"Surely what?" The stern voice nearly shattered Bubbleman's dreams of success as its owner loomed above him. Blues looked down at the small darkloid through his shades with a slight frown on his face.

"E-E-E-Ehhh puku? I thought N-Needleman should be taking care of you now puku!"

"You thought wrong," was the cold reply that the swordsman gave as his operator yelled out a battle chip's name.

"Lightning blade! Slot in!"

The small click of the chip's insertion signaled the reconfiguration on the NetNavi's right arm into a bright yellow blade that crackled and sparked with electricity. With a single underhanded slash, Bubbleman was sent flying off in a near comical fashion.

"Noooo puku!" the poor darkloid yelled out as he logged off from the database server in mid flight. The viruses that accompanied him soon dematerialized as well as a result, halting further destruction of the data.

With a sigh, Blues dematerialized his sword as he reported back, "Enzan-sama. Mission complete."

"Good job Blues," Enzan's voice resounded as a small screen appeared showing the boy's anxious face. Small explosions could be heard in the distance. It was suspected that the fighting in the lobby was the cause. "Now let's get back to where Needleman and that blue NetNavi is!"

* * *

"Who exactly are you?" Needleman angrily yelled out to the stranger as he clutched his mutilated arm. Bits of data seemed to be leaking from where it was cut. The two fighters were obviously worn out, no doubt evenly matched in some regard. "Why're you getting in our way? Do you have a reason to-!"

"Kid, just finish the guy!" Warrock's voice rang out in Subaru's mind. Due to the predated technology they were using, Warrock could no longer materialize separately from Rockman. The maximum he could do was communicate to him through his consciousness.

In due response, Rockman lifted his right cannon and inserted a battle chip. Primarily with the advancements of the Hunter VG, chips were already pre-downloaded. However, most people kept a few spares of physical chips in emergency situations. While his supply was definitely limited in comparison to his usual library, he was certain they would fit the bill as his arm reconfigured into one of his frequently used weapons, "Gatling gun!"

A rapid stream of bullets began to bombard the darkloid, cutting him off of his inquiries. With a last yell, Needleman logged off. No doubt, he'd be back to fight another day. While he didn't quite understand the situation, it was obvious that the sinister looking navi was the intruder.

Breathing a sigh of relief at the darkloid's disappearance, Rockman turned to see Enzan making his way towards him. He had already guessed that the red swordsman was already him, but he hoped that Enzan didn't make any connections to his own identity.

The Net Savior was breathing heavily, trying to catch his breath after running back from the main computer room. He looked up at the blue NetNavi, the glare in the lights prevented him from seeing his face directly due to the visor. The appearance fit Netto's (verbal) description of the "mysterious blue NetNavi" perfectly. "Who… exactly are… you?" he huffed between his words.

Subaru couldn't help but look away. He was being asked that question a lot lately. It was rude of him to give no reply, but he knew Enzan was smart and would catch on to who he really was. Not wanting to give the Net Savior any more chances on figuring things out, Rockman wordlessly pulsed out in a ray of blue light, disappearing from view.

Enzan cursed under his breath. The guy got away, and there was no way he could track him down. Looking down at his PET, he saw Blues' worried face. Obviously, the boy had been pushing himself not only through the strenuous action of cross fusing, but also of running around the extensive Net Police station. Reassuring his NetNavi on his health, he asked Blues to connect him to Meijin. This was something to definitely report.

* * *

"So kid, you finally making a run for it?" Warrock pointed out the obvious ease it would be to simply leave. They had pulsed in from outside and pulsed out from outside. There were too many wandering eyes inside the building, so it was risky to pulse in from there. He had gone just around the corner behind a building to Denpa Henkan. It was similar to a creepy dark alley one sees in movies, but smelled horribly of decomposing garbage. Subaru was of course reluctant to go into such a place, but it was on the spur of the moment that Warrock instructed him to go there. The dimensional area that had covered the area was already disappearing. "If there's any better time to ditch this place, it would be now."

"Warrock, didn't we already go over why that's a bad idea?" Subaru shook his head as he quickly made his way out of the alley. "We better head back, or else Enzan would-"

Unceremoniously, Subaru slammed straight into another person. Though the force sent Subaru backwards, the tall stranger didn't even flinch. Looking up at the tall figure, Subaru could help but notice how strangely inhuman the person looked. He wore a long black robe with a large red letter G emblazoned on his chest. A full head of lime green air that seemed to tangle at its ends into a purple hue looked almost alien in nature. Though what Subaru most noticeably recognized was the man's eyes, glowing red pupils suspended in a deep black. The boy was about to apologize to the dark figure, but the words didn't come out.

"…I sensed a large amount of energy here…" Red eyes swerved to meet his own brown ones, sending shivers down Subaru's spine. Despite its glow, they looked cold and inhuman. His voice seemed to ring out with disdain dripping from his words. "Are you the one responsible…?"

Subaru didn't know why, but he felt an immense pressure from the man. He seemed to tower over him for a few seconds, but quickly turned his gaze away after receiving no response from the boy. Silently, the stranger walked off out of eyeshot view.

"Ooy! Subaru! Snap out of it!" Warrock exclaimed. It thankfully brought Subaru out of the daze he was in as he slowly got up. "What's with that guy? He didn't even apologize!"

"It's alright, I should have been the one to apologize," Subaru replied as he looked towards the crowd that the stranger had disappeared into. What the stranger said troubled him, but it didn't make much sense at this point. "We better get back now before…!" Though Subaru had said it too late as a familiar voice called out to them.

"Hey, you! What are you doing out here?" Enzan's voice called out to him. The other boy was running towards him. Subaru couldn't help but feel sorry for making the Net Savior run so far just to find him.

"Busted!" Warrock sighed. "So much for not getting into anymore trouble, eh kid?"

"Didn't I tell you to stay inside!" The Net Savior continued to scold the boy.

"W-Well… I…" Subaru stuttered his words, trying to search for a quick answer to give. "I heard all these loud explosions and… I thought the safest place would be outside."

Enzan simply shook his head in dismay. "And you brought the new PET with you while running out?"

"I was just… really excited… to get the newest model of PET…?" Subaru scratched his head nervously, avoiding direct eye contact with the other boy. He must have looked like a kleptomaniac at that point. He could hear Warrock grumble at his not-so-smooth story.

With a deep breath, Enzan tried to cool himself down. He was literally yelling at the other boy. "Alright… Subaru. Let's just head back to the station and we'll talk it over. Okay?"

Subaru slowly nodded his head as he followed him back to what Warrock labeled "prison".

* * *

"Auuuuuuuuugh! I can't believe iiiiit!"

"What's wrong Netto-kun?" Rockman could have sworn that he was experiencing déjà vu as his NetOp yelled in frustration again. It was already afternoon, and the sun was just beginning to set. The young brunette was skating back home from the Net Police station with a deep frown on his face.

"Not only did I miss the attack on the station… but I also missed that blue navi!" Netto couldn't contain his frustration at missing this opportunity. They had been skating for awhile in silence. Rockman thought it may be the best time to finally speak up. Perhaps the hot headed boy cooled down just a bit to listen.

"Netto-kun, you have a message from Enzan. He forgot to mention-"

"I don't want to hear from Enzan right now! He's probably just going to brag how he handled those darkloids himself!" Netto cut the poor navi off. Bringing up Enzan was probably a bad idea now that the navi thought about it.

"But…!" Rockman tried to get in his words, but was drowned out by Netto's continued rant.

"I just want to go home, eat, and do some net battling before heading to bed! We have to be ready for when the darkloids attack again!" He was already reaching his destination, nearing the door to his home. With a loud yell, he announced his arrival as he swung the door open. "I'm home, mom!"

Though what Netto saw inside wasn't exactly what he expected. Standing right next to his mom was the same boy that he had brought in to the station the previous night. From the looks of it, the two of them had been conversing for a bit while his mother was cooking his favorite dish, curry. Silence hung in the air for a second until Netto pointed an accusing finger at the boy as he exclaimed, "You!"

"Oh, Netto! You're home!" His mother gave him a warm smile. She seemed ignorant to the fact that her son was pointing at the new guest in recognition. "This is Subaru-kun! He'll be staying with us for awhile. Go on, introduce yourself."

She urged Subaru forward towards the boy. There was obvious apprehension, but she didn't seem to notice. "A-Ah… Nice to meet you, Netto. I'm Hoshikawa Subaru. Sorry for the intrusion." He gave a slight bow out of formality.

"B-B-But why?" Netto couldn't help but exclaim. He turned to his PET for an answer. "Rockman! You know something about this?"

"I was trying to tell you!" the navi pouted. "There was a message from Enzan regarding this, but you were being too airheaded to listen!"

"Arrg! Why didn't you tell me this sooner?" Netto cried out as he argued with his navi.

Subaru tried to interject between the two's arguing. He felt as if he was taking advantage of the hospitality, but there was no other place to stay for the time being. "I-I'm sorry. I won't stay for too long…!"

Haruka Hikari however put a reassuring hand over the shy boy's shoulder. Looking up at her smiling face, Subaru couldn't help but relax just a bit. "Don't worry, Subaru-kun. I heard about your situation, you can stay here as long as you like."

Giving a wry smile back, Subaru thanked her for her words as the sound of a boy and his navi arguing continued in the background. "Thank you, Haruka-san."

* * *

"Your report?" the mysterious man glared down at the kneeling brunette woman. He was aware of her failure at hindering the advances of the Net Police, but she had come to offer a new bit of information.

"That blue NetNavi appeared again…" Yuriko began. She looked up at the man through the dark shades she was wearing. "…and the energy reading spiked slightly at the same time. Analyzing of the energy itself is in process, but we're now positive that this navi…"

She paused to notice the screens that illuminated from behind the mysterious man. They were the same images of Black Ace that they had discussed over previously. He had been analyzing it obsessively ever since. It was obvious. The man was enamored by the power that this navi wielded.

"What… do you propose we should do, Dr. Regal?" The woman asked, but she already knew what his answer would be. The man slowly stood up from his chair and turned to face the screens of the red winged navi. His voice could barely contain his excitement at the concept of its acquisition.

"Find him. And capture him."

* * *

AN: So I just finished beating Sirius in RnR3. Now I'm backtracking to RnR2! It's not nearly as good as 3… but still good none the less! What keeps me going is seeing Solo's cool crimson eyes~ I just can't help but squeal in delight when I hear his theme song herald his coming!

Sorry if I have general Japanese formalities incorrect. If you see any errors, feel free to notify me!


	4. Arcade Chaos!

AN: Oh man! This chapter was really tough to write, but thankfully I was able to pull through. I have to say thanks to Az The Dragon for helping me out through some of my writer's block. She's a master at writing fight scenes!

And I have to say, these chapters seem to be getting longer and longer. Sorry for my tardiness!

Disclaimer: I wish I owned characters… but alas I do not. I guess I own the plot idea though. ^^;;

**Chapter 4: Arcade Chaos!**

"Amnesia? So he doesn't remember anything?" the young brunette sporting his trademark blue headband skated along the sidewalk on his inline skates. His childhood friend followed steadily behind on her scooter.

"That's what the word amnesia typically means, Netto." Meiru replied with obvious sarcasm. She couldn't help but shake her head in dismay at her childhood friend's lack of rationality. After hearing how Netto treated an amnesiac boy with a cold shoulder literally made her want to smack the boy across the head again at his insensitivity. "Honestly, I thought you would have a lot more common sense."

"Well he sure didn't act amnesiac…tic?" Netto fumbled the word awkwardly. While he understood the word, it was obviously alien to his tongue. "He seemed pretty normal to me!"

"Enzan mentioned that Subaru-kun doesn't remember his hometown, background, or a lot of other basic stuff clearly." Rockman piped up from the PET. However he couldn't help but add in his own analysis of the boy's situation as he continued, "Or rather, it's more like what he remembers doesn't really make much sense. It's similar to amnesia all the same."

"Hmm…" Netto folded his arms to register the information. He slowed his pace a bit to keep his balance steady. A feeling of guilt started to surface as he came to realize the significance of amnesia. "So basically his memory is all mixed up? I guess it must be really tough on him…"

"And you were being such a jerk to him! Unbelievable!" Meiru said in a huff as she slowed her pace as well to match Netto's. "You could have at least invited him over to the arcade with us."

"No way! This is important Net Savior business!" Netto retorted back as he began preparing to pick up his speed again. To Meiru though, it was obvious that he was trying to hide his guilt in not thinking of her suggestion beforehand. "I can't be bringing in you… you _regular people_ in this!"

"You mean like… civilians?" a timid voice spoke up from behind the two. They both stopped in their tracks and slowly turned around to see the one that they had just labeled an amnesiac standing right behind them. The shocked stares Subaru received from his two peers made him slightly self conscious as he nervously scratched the back of his head. He restated his previous statement in hopes to stop the gawking faces. "Regular people as in civilians… right?"

"H-How did you know we were-?" Netto began but was interrupted as the boy tried to quickly explain himself.

"Oh… um… Haruka-san told me you guys were going to the arcade and…" Subaru shuffled through his pocket to procure a small black device. It was smaller then a chip, but it looked almost like something that was meant to be an attachment for the PET due to its box shape. Holding out the small contraption, Subaru continued, "She said you forgot this. I just wanted to help out and deliver it to you."

"Man! I totally forgot!" Taking the small device from Subaru's hand, Netto began inspecting its exterior thoroughly as he brought it up to his right eye. Though looking at the outside of an electronic device tells you little to nothing about it, Netto just liked to pretend it did. "Dad just finished this tracker up! It's supposed to be some kind of energy reading device… but it should lead me straight to that Black Ace guy!"

Subaru couldn't help but wince at the mere mention of the familiar name. Knowing that the hot blooded brunette was looking for a fight provided just another reason for why Subaru was not planning on revealing his identity anytime soon.

"You hear that kid? We're popular." Warrock's snickering voice came from the new PET model. It seemed like the alien had already gotten used to his new home despite its dated hardware in comparison to the Hunter VG. "If the guy is looking for a fight, why not give it to him?"

Subaru shook his head as he muttered, "That's not necessarily a good thing Warrock. I'd rather not attract any more attention than we already have." While the extra secrecy of talking to his companion was not necessarily needed due to how common "Navis" were, habits were hard to break. "Besides, I'd rather not get on Netto's bad side…"

Looking back up at the other brunette, Subaru could see how the boy was practically shivering in excitement at just the thought of getting to battle against the mysterious navi again. That is until he saw him receive a sharp elbow in his side from the dark pink haired girl that was with him.

Meiru hissed into Netto's ear, "Shouldn't you be saying something, genius?" Her eyes darted over to Subaru and back at Netto to hint the need for two simple words to be said. "He _did_ come all this way just to deliver this."

"O-Oh yeah... um…" Fumbling his words yet again, Netto finally unglued his eyes off the new gadget and stuffed it in his pocket. He could hear his friend huff at his own lack of courtesy. His tone was a bit reluctant due to his uneasiness at his already displayed rudeness. Netto could only hope that his house guest didn't take offense to his previous gesture. "Thank you, Subaru..."

"It's no problem," Subaru replied with a small smile. While earlier in the morning, Netto had barely said a word to him even when they ate at the same table. No doubt, having a complete stranger suddenly living with you in your own home must be a bit unnerving. Subaru could sympathize with the boy in that. While it was Haruka-san who offered to help out, it didn't necessarily mean that Netto was supportive of it. With a small wave, Subaru was prepared to leave the two childhood friends to get to work on his own investigation of how he was going to get back home. "I'm just glad that I could help out. I better be going…"

However with another hard nudge from Meiru, Netto spoke up in time to stop the boy's retreat. "Wait, Subaru! Do you want to come with us to the arcade?"

Halting in his steps, Subaru turned around to see eye to eye with the Net Savior who was rubbing his side in pain from being elbowed twice in the same general area as he muttered, "The… arcade?" He glanced over at the girl accompanying him who was no doubt responsible for the sudden offer.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't introduce myself." The pink haired girl had a cheery smile despite her previous harsh demeanor towards Netto. Taking advantage of his hesitation on leaving, she had quickly grabbed Subaru's hand as if to prevent him from trying to escape again. "You can call me Meiru. I'm Netto's friend."

Subaru stuttered his introduction slightly. Her outspoken and slightly violent characteristics reminded him slightly of a certain blond haired girl he knew. "I-I'm… Hoshikawa… Subaru."

"Why not come with us to the arcade Hoshikawa-kun?" She finally released his hands to take up her scooter which was leaning on the railing nearby. It was as if she was already positive that he was going to accept their invitation. "It's where people can NetBattle with their NetNavis. It'll be fun."

"I'm not really into that sort of thing." Subaru began to say, trying to dismiss the kind offer. He remembered how Wizard battling was quite popular back home too, but he had no hands on experience with it personally. Or rather, he only had hands on experience dealing with it as Rockman. Unnecessary battling wasn't necessarily what he called fun. Cautiously backing up a step, Subaru tried to think of a valid reason for his opting out. "I… uh…. Have other things to do…"

"If he doesn't want to come, then don't force him." Netto muttered under his breath until his NetNavi spoke up in a hushed voice.

"Hey Netto-kun… didn't Enzan tell you to also keep an eye on him? It might not be a bad idea to have him come with us."

"I guess you're right, Rockman…" Netto sighed as he looked up to see Meiru trying to persuade the shy boy into coming. He sighed at the thought of dragging him along. "But you know our primary goal is to find who is distributing those dark chips!"

"Think of it as hitting two birds with one stone." Rockman crossed his arms. Netto knew that look in his NetNavi's eyes. He was going to get chewed out again if he didn't agree with his Navi's suggestion. It was just a matter of time before the boy gave in. Turning to Subaru with a new conviction and attitude, the Net Savior began his advance.

"Oh come on!" Netto grabbed the reluctant boy's arm suddenly as he picked up speed on his skates. It took Subaru by surprise as he used all his energy to just keep up with the pace of the inline skater to prevent himself from being literally dragged off his feet. "Why are you always so shy? You should get out of the house and have some fun!"

"B-But I-!" Subaru tried to reason, but was cut off by Meiru who was following close behind.

"We'll show you around town Hoshikawa-kun! Maybe something will spark your memory!"

With a sigh, Subaru simply nodded his head as he let himself be led by the two of them. It was a two versus one argument that he just couldn't win.

"Ain't that great, kid? Now we get to tear stuff up with no consequences!" Warrock's voice spoke up as he swiped his claws against cyber air from within the PET. "Besides, it's not like you know your way around here anyways! This should be both great practice and a great way to gather your surroundings."

* * *

"That guy… I should have ripped it out of him when I had the chance." Red eyes scanned over the strange anomaly that had suddenly appeared after the bright flash of light faded.

"KzzzZzzZzt…"

"Shut up, Laplace." Burai snapped back at the shadow like wave being in annoyance. He had no patience for the thing's remarks at the time, but he knew it had a point in its comment. The two of them stood before a strange rip in space and time. It seemed to resemble a Noise Wave portal. However in replacement of the dark abyss that would have been visible, there was a swirl of colors that seemed to twist and blend within the frayed ends. It was impossible to distinguish what exactly it represented. They and it simply floated in the midst of space hovering over Earth's atmosphere. It was the location of where Meteor G had both previously been and disappeared at. "I already know the risks. But there's no choice."

"There's no guarantee that there's a way back." Daigo Hoshikawa warned over the boy's shoulder. While he knew it would be futile to ask for the boy's help, he couldn't help but try. "Subaru… I mean Rockman should be beyond this portal. But where it leads to exactly… I'm not sure."

"I'm not doing this for you or him. He has something that I need." Burai closed his eyes as he reached out a hand to touch the swirling portal. Laplace swirled its ethereal body around the rip as if to contemplate itself whether the journey through would be a rough one. Bracing himself for what was to come, he muttered, "Nothing more."

As his hand touched the boundaries of the time space phenomenon, the white haired boy could feel himself being literally pulled in. It felt as if tens of tendrils had reached out to suffocate him as his body was enveloped in the portal's light. While his control and resistance over Noise was not as refined as Rockman's, it was enough to allow him safe passage through the Noise created portal without passing out. Laplace followed close behind as it floated over the boy. Its muffled words were barely audible within the Noise dense space they were in. White fuzz was all that could truly be heard, so communication was out of the question.

Gathering his bearings, Burai silently concentrated on steadying himself through what he believed would be an arduous journey. His head felt heavy from the Noise condensed atmosphere. A light was at the end of the murky tunnel that they were traversing. Without being told, he knew that it was their intended destination.

* * *

"Noise?" Meijin shifted his glasses up to better view the display on the large computer screen. Both he and Yuichiro Hikari had been analyzing the data that they collected from both Rockman and Blues' memory on the mysterious blue navi. The two scientists were on the topic of the strange energy reading that seemed to emanate from the blue navi.

"I think that's what we should call it for now. It has a unique signature that classifies itself as a whole different energy." Yuichiro replied as he clicked a few more buttons on the expansive keyboard. A clip of the strange wisps of corruption materializing was played in a sort of loop. "Noise' seems to be a fitting name not only because of its appearance but also its interference ability with electronic equipment."

"True. It seems to cause not only interference… but also corrupts and mutates data and programs. Viruses seem to also be attracted towards it in particular." While Meijin's eyes were hidden behind the glare that his glasses seemed to always emit, Yuichiro could tell he was worried by hearing his tone. "However, it seems that this NetNavi can utilize this 'Noise' without any of its harmful effects. That's what I've hypothesized from what we've seen so far…"

"It was easy making a tracker that can read 'Noise' since the signature is so unique, but…" Yuichiro trailed off as his tired eyes lazily swerved over to see the coffee that his assistant brought over an hour ago. Reaching out for his now lukewarm cup of coffee that was sitting idly on his desk, he couldn't help but worry himself. They had no idea whether this navi was good, evil, or where it even came from. The only particular leads they had were that a shooting star heralded its first appearance. Not only that, but the 'Noise' level suddenly jumped upon its appearance. "If Netto uses that tracker… he'll surely run into him. But I'm worried that…"

Meijin gave a small nod. "From what we've seen so far, it's doubtful that this blue navi is working for Nebula… or else he wouldn't have helped R Blues at that time." The screen suddenly flashed over towards a previous clip of Black Ace as if in response to Meijin's deduction. Doubt began to surface as the two scientists looked back at the cold stare of the red winged warrior that had pummeled both the darkloids and R Rockman with no hesitation or remorse. "But… I'm sure that Nebula too has their eyes on him as well. It just makes it increasingly more important that we get to the bottom of this. Any navi can be vulnerable to a dark chips influence."

"I just hope Netto isn't too rash when he meets him again…"

* * *

"Auuugh! I'm gonna tear the guy in two next time I see him!" Netto yelled out. He was particularly excited to express his frustration to a new ear. A new ear however meant Subaru's ear, which only made the boy more anxious to leave. "He goes and beats me up… but helps out Enzan? What's the deal? Does he have some sort of grudge on me?"

"W-Well… I'm sure he didn't mean anything by what he did…" Subaru tried to reason to no avail. The brunette reminded him of Warrock in particular due to his hot blooded battle-ready nature. Albeit, he lacked the periodic wisdom that Warrock sometimes dispenses when the time was right. "You did raise a weapon towards him… right?"

"It's true Netto-kun. You _were_ the one that showed hostility in the first place." Rockman piped in from his PET. "Maybe he responded in self defense?"

"Not you too Rockman! Why are you ganging up on me?" Netto pouted as they neared the arcade center. It was bustling with kids from around town that wanted to test out their Net Battling skills.

"Rockman…? That's your NetNavi's name?" Subaru questioned as he realized the coincidentally similar names. He had noticed it before hand, but never found the right opportunity to speak up on it.

"Yeah. Warrock is your NetNavi's name… right?" Netto looked over Subaru's shoulder to see his PET screen. "He definitely looks strong."

"Hmph… I don't just look strong." The alien grumbled as he folded his arms.

"Speaking of which, I wanted to ask how you caught up with the two of us. We were both on wheels… unless you're a real fast runner." Netto curiously asked. He had been wondering in particular how anyone could catch up to him on foot.

"A-Ah… um…" Subaru slowly looked away to think of an explanation. In truth, he had used the wave roads that were particularly abundant in the city due to the electronic signals being emitted from all the devices and PETs. It wasn't exactly the same as the wave roads produced back home, but as an EM wave being it only took a few trial and errors to match the frequency of them. Thankfully, a female voice caught the other boy's attention before Subaru could utter a half baked response to the question.

"Guys! We're here already." Meiru shouted over to the two boys that had lagged behind. She was already waving her hands to get their attention at the arcade entrance.

Kids were coming in and out of the brightly lit building with their PETs in hand. From what Subaru could tell by just entering, the arcade revolved primarily around using one's PET to do NetBattling. A few arcade machines provided automated levels of virus busting while another room with a glass dome at its center provided an arena for kids to do head to head NetBattling. The excitement in the air was almost electrifying as a crowd formed around the miniature arena cheering on its participants. Two boys, one blond and the other black haired, were already engaged in a battle at the moment.

"Alright! Wide Sword Slot In!" the blond haired kid yelled out as he slotted in his chip. His NetNavi which closely resembled a Sci-Fi warrior from a space centric film materialized a sword in replacement for his right hand. He lunged towards his opponent who resembled a medieval knight in stark contrast to his own Sci-Fi appearance.

"Parry and counter, Crusaderman! Long Sword Slot In!" With a click of confirmation from the battle chip's insertion, the black haired boy's navi not only blocked his adversaries advance with the newly materialized sword, but also quickly shifted his steps to strike directly from behind the rushing warrior. With a clean strike, the Sci-Fi warrior fell.

"N-No! Astroman, Logout!" The fallen navi proceeded to fade away as it transferred itself from the arena back to the blond boy's PET. With his ego broken, the boy slunk away back into the crowd as the black haired boy asked for another challenger.

"Ha! Is there anyone out there who can challenge Crusaderman and I?" the boy gloated as he swished his long bangs to the side with a free hand. The majority of girls cheered the black haired kid on much to the resentment of the other boys. Finally, one particular brunette was fed up with the cocky attitude.

"Rockman and I will take you on!" Netto yelled out as he pushed through the crowd. No doubt, the Net Savior was quickly forgetting the exact reason he was there.

"Netto-kun… shouldn't we be looking for the person distributing dark chips?" Rockman tried to remind the boy but to no avail. There was no stopping him and his one track mind at times.

"This guy has to be taken down a notch! Let's do this! Plug in… Rockman EXE! Transmission!"

The whole crowd cheered once more as the two proceeded to battle. Subaru however watched with much indifference. It was hard for him to get excited with so much on his mind. He wasn't sure whether it was the crowd itself that was causing it, but Subaru could feel a headache setting in. "M-Meiru-chan, I'm going to go over and get a drink from the machine."

"Eh? Are you feeling alright Hoshikawa-kun?" The pink haired girl stopped her cheering to look at the boy. She noticed his slightly dazed look and guessed that perhaps he was not used to such a huge crowd. It wouldn't be a surprise seeing how he was particularly shy in the first place.

"Yeah, don't worry. I'll be right back. I'm just going to go grab something to drink." Waving a casual goodbye, Subaru made his way gently pushing his way through the crowd. After escaping the bustling crowd, it became a lot easier to breath. However, his headache was still lingering.

"Ooy, Subaru. You're not looking too good." Warrock had materialized out of the PET in order to better examine his partner's condition. It was worrisome to say the least for the AM being. "Maybe you should take your own advice and actually get a drink from those machines over there." Green claws gestured over to a pair of vending machines that sat innocently in the corner of the arcade center. Thankfully, Subaru also spotted some benches next to the aforementioned machines. After pushing through a few more crowds he was finally able to plop down on an actual chair. The silence of the small corner was also welcomed.

"It's just a small headache…" Subaru tried to reassure his friend as he lightly clutched his throbbing head. He leaned his back against the wall as he took deep breaths to wait off the pain. "Right when we got into the arcade, it just sort of… happened."

"Speaking of which, I was just about to tell you that this place has a minute amount of Noise, oddly." Warrock tried glancing around to find its source, but with so many people and machines it was hard to tell. "Don't worry, kid. I had the same problem when I first encountered Noise too. You've become sensitive to Noise… which is completely unheard of for a human."

"I guess being there has to be _some_ bad effects with using Noise." Subaru couldn't help but sigh as he rubbed his temple. He pushed down his Visualizer over his eyes to see his partner continuously looking from right to left. "It's just strange that there would be Noise here of all places."

"You're right. It's not natural." Warrock growled lowly as he continued his search. "It's hard to describe but… this small level of Noise has no actual substance to it."

"So it's like… a shadow? Does that mean someone is causing it intentionally?"

"Can't say for sure, but keep your eyes open." At that, the alien transferred himself back into the PET. There was no more need for him to be outside since tracking the origin of the frequency was next to impossible. "'Bout time we head back, kid. Besides, you still gotta' try out that whole NetBattling thing."

Subaru couldn't help but shake his head at the battle hardened alien's suggestion of NetBattling. Though he was curious on how it worked, there was no time for playing. However, he did agree that it was about time to head back. No doubt Meiru would probably be worried if he was gone for too long. "Alright, let's head back Warrock."

Pushing his Visualizer over his head once again, Subaru began to get up from his seat until he noticed an older woman standing over him, her shadow casted over him. He hadn't noticed her earlier due to the Visualizer not being able to pick up organic bodies particularly well. She looked awfully suspicious with her long trench coat and shades, but Subaru wasn't one to judge.

"Hum… I couldn't help but notice that you don't look too well. Is something wrong?" Her voice was silky smooth, yet cold at the same time. She took off her shades to reveal a set of dark brown eyes that looked down at Subaru with worry.

"N-No… I'm fine…" Subaru tried to brush her concern off politely but she continued to prod him. It was hard to pass her as he was backed up to the wall. He flinched as she laid a comforting hand on his shoulder. The ringing in his head began to reach a crescendo.

"Are you not doing too well in NetBattling?" She began to whisper her words as she leaned closer towards Subaru until her lips were nearly touching his ear. It was unnerving having a girl invade his personal space, but he felt frozen under her gaze. "I can give you power. Take it."

Taking Subaru's hand in her own, she placed something flat and rectangular in his hands. Slowly, she pulled away from the boy to give him a bit more space to look down and see what exactly she had given him. It resembled a battle chip with a deep purple color and jet black grooves. A small gem-like decoration was at its center. Subaru turned his head up to thank the woman for the sudden gift, but she had already disappeared off into the crowd. And with her, the noise in his head also faded. The headache subsided.

"What… What a strange woman…" Subaru muttered as he looked down once more at the anonymous gift.

* * *

"What did you find?"

"Nothing yet, Dr. Regal. I'm getting no response even with the emitter." Yuriko talked into her PET. She fiddled with a particular earring she had on that emitted a small glare in the lights of the arcade. Immediately after leaving the shy looking boy, she put her shades back on along with her usual cold demeanor. "I checked over everyone here as well with no luck. That navi isn't here."

"We know that NetNavi has a NetOp… or else he would not have been able to use battle chips." The man folded his arms over his lap. He was expecting more out of his subordinate, but at the same time he could not blame her. It was much like a wild goose chase. "That earring I made should both emit and detect the same unique frequency as the energy signature. I've given you the tools to succeed. I expect results."

"Sir! That's…!" Yuriko tried to explain the absurdity of what he was asking but was a few seconds too late as the man had already hung up. She let out a disgruntled murmur under her breath as she continued her secondary job of spreading dark chips and eliminating any of their opposition.

* * *

"There you are Hoshikawa-kun! Come on!" Meiru yelled out to the shy boy as he made his way through the crowd once again. "Netto already won 10 matches straight! He's been waiting for you!"

Immediately after exiting the crowd, Subaru felt the girl grab him by the hand and proceed to push him into the center ring. The crowd was already cheering for Netto to continue his win streak. "N-No! I don't want to-!" Subaru tried to explain to the insistent girl but was drowned out by the cheers of the other kids. By just stepping slightly into the center, the crowd identified him as the next challenger. It was too late to back down now.

"Look sharp kid! We're gonna' wipe the floor with this guy!" Warrock gleefully was awaiting his moment to shine. It had been ages since he'd last fought outside of Denpa Henkan. Sighing in defeat by mob rule, Subaru had no choice but to proceed to the center glass dome where the other brunette was awaiting. He followed Netto's example on how exactly to "plug in." From what he gathered on their short walk towards the place, it was similar in sense to battling with Wizards.

"P-Plug in… Warrock! Transmission!" Subaru said lowly as he sent a red laser from his PET into the dome's port. In an instant, the alien wave-being materialized inside the coliseum. Gathering his surroundings of the inside of an internet server, Warrock couldn't help but notice how similar it was to most cyber cores back home. He placed his gaze then at the blue bomber that stood opposite of him. There was no mistaking the resemblance between both the NetNavi and the EM-wave Rockman.

"Warrock sure looks tough, but you're no match for us! Battle Operation set! In!" Netto exclaimed as he switched over to his battle ready mind set.

"Let's go Warrock!" Following the brunette's example, Subaru repeated, "Battle Operation set! In!"

"I thought you'd never say it!" Warrock roared out as he charged headfirst at his opponent. His claws reached out for the first strike ready to make mince meat out of the navi.

"Area Steal! Long Sword! Slot in!" Netto's voice echoed in Rockman's ears as he inserted the battle chips into his PET. Instantly, the blue navi felt his hand transforming into a long sword and the feeling of displacement as the area steal transported him from where he was to right behind his opponent.

When the teleportation successfully made him reappear where he wanted, he raised his sword high above him and let it fall down towards Warrock as fast and as violently as he could.

He would have caused severe damage if Subaru didn't recall his partner's attention to Rockman's new position with a shout of "Behind you!" that made Warrock swiftly turn around and grab the falling sword in one hand.

Red eyes met green and the two stared at each other for a few seconds before the green and blue AMian squeezed his hold on the weapon. "Not bad, but not enough," he said as he grinned when the sword broke in pieces.

"N-No way! His strength is off the charts!" Netto said in awe at the display. Not ready to throw in the towel at such a display, he slotted in more chips to gain the advantage. It was in a stark contrast to Subaru who had barely even motioned to insert a single battle chip. No doubt, the hot blooded brunette interpreted it as a sign of cockiness. "We're not done! Cannon, slot in!"

At the click of confirmation, Rockman's sword arm reconfigured itself into a box shaped gun. He quickly backed away, taking aim at his opponent. Quickly shooting all the cannon's rounds, a cloud of dust whipped up that cut visibility. "Did… did we get him?" Rockman said as he slowly lowered the cannon as it reconfigured itself back into his arm.

"Hardly…" A low growl answered as a bolt of lightning pierced through the veil of dust, scoring a direct hit on the blue navi's left shoulder. Gripping his hurt arm in pain, Rockman looked up to see the green and blue beast-like navi. It looked as if he too didn't go unscathed from the cannon's assault judging by his cracked central armor. Rubbing his throat, Warrock coughed out slightly. "Ugh. Haven't spit out that attack in a while… Though it's nothing I can't handle."

"Ugh… you're strong…" Rockman winced as he tried to shake off the pain in his shoulder. It struck him as a bit strange how the beast like navi required no assistance from his NetOp, much like a solo navi. He couldn't imagine how he might fair if Subaru had been powering the navi even more.

"Hmph… you're not bad yourself." Warrock complimented his opponent as he prepared to strike again.

* * *

"That kid… he isn't even using that dark chip I gave him" Yuriko seethed through clenched teeth. Hidden in the cheering crowd, she watched the fight out of eyeshot view of the Net Savior to keep tabs on the dark chip she had given. The results of her generosity were not what she hoped. "Hmph… if he only used that dark chip he'd be able to delete Rockman with ease. No matter… "

Sifting away from the crowd, she flipped open her PET to see Beastman waiting on the other end. With a slight nod, she cued him to execute the next step in their plan. "It's time Beastman."

While he hated taking orders from that abominable woman, there was little choice. There was no complaining though as a perfect chance to exact his revenge has presented itself in front of him. He growled in a low voice, "I'll tear that human puppet into shreds…" Acknowledging the order with a small grumble, Beastman left the visibility of the PET and entered the battle dome's server.

Yuriko herself bit her lip to stop herself from doing anything hasty. She needed results. Whether it was getting at least one Net Savior out of their way, pulling a strong NetNavi to their side, or finding that mysterious navi, she could not leave empty handed. She cursed under her breath, "Damn it… Don't fail me Beastman."

* * *

"Hmph… You're pretty good for someone who's a first time NetBattler, Subaru!"

"A-Ah… really?" the nervous boy scratched the back of his head at the compliment. Subaru wasn't necessarily doing anything. AM wave beings weren't necessarily compatible with battle cards. Not only that, but Warrock wasn't integrated with the PET like NetNavis were, so forcing any sort of control period was out of the question. When he thought about it, Subaru felt as if he was just posing as a NetOp. "You're really good yourself, Netto."

"Alright! Final attack! Program Advance!" Netto yelled out as he whipped out three battle chips. One after another, he slotted them in consecutively. His voice echoed out into cyber space as the chips downloaded one by one. "Cannon… Cannon… and another Cannon!"

"Zeta Cannon!" the NetNavi yelled out as a large cannon materialized over both his hands. Rockman hoped to end the battle with his last shot as he used the last of his concentration to take aim. Both warriors were worn out from each other's relentless assaults. "This battle is over!"

"Ha! Getting cocky now aren't we?" Warrock chuckled as he gripped his own hurt side. While this whole NetBattling business was particularly new to him, the AMian still had a few cards up his sleeves. Concentrating on changing frequencies, he gave off a faint glow as a swirling black void appeared from behind him. Leaving behind a small snicker, Warrock disappeared from visibility as his frequency changed.

"W-Where did he go?" Rockman stopped to look around for his opponent to no avail. He was a sitting duck if he couldn't even locate his target.

"I didn't see him insert a battle chip!" Netto tried to search his mind for a possible tactic to be used in this situation but came up blank. He thought perhaps Subaru had used an Area Steal, but there was no evidence of its activation. Looking up to see Subaru standing across from him looking at his PET in equal nervousness only served to confuse the Net Savior.

"Warrock… isn't that cheating?" Subaru sighed as he whispered into his PET in a low voice. However, he only received a small chuckle from his comrade as the AMian was prepared to deal the final strike. If there's one thing the warrior hated, it was losing.

What the alien wasn't expecting however was the electronic voice of the announcer yelling out, "Winner: Rockman!" There was a long silence both from the NetOps and from the crowd. No one was quite sure what exactly what happened, but Warrock was still out of visibility.

Netto finally broke the silence with a long, "Eeeeeeeeeeh?" Even Rockman was stumped on what exactly happened. He didn't see his opponent log out. It was like he disappeared in thin air. The brown eyed Net Savior turned to look at his opposing NetOp who just stood there scratching his head.

"Hmph… Dang it!" A familiar voice resounded out as a spectral claw reached out of a swirling black void behind Rockman. The poor navi jumped as two claws placed themselves over his shoulders. He literally thought a ghost was spiriting him away, but looked back to see the familiar mug of his opponent. "I didn't think this computer server would also fail to detect my presence."

"Serves you right, Warrock." Subaru said under his breath as he turned up to meet eyes with Netto. The Net Savior wasn't quite sure whether he had actually won or not. Verifying the announcer much to his partner's dismay, Subaru smiled back as he said, "It's your win, Netto!"

The crowd began to cheer at the sign of one side's resignation. It was a great battle fought to the end, though with a bit of a strange ending. No one could deny that both NetOps and NetNavis were top notch.

The victory however was short lived as an unfamiliar roar echoed through the arcade from the speakers accompanied by a loud screeching sound of malfunctioning machinery. Arcade machines began to explode one after another, sending bits of glass and streams of electricity dangerously into the air. Panic started to ensue as the cheering crowds became mobs that rushed to the arcade exits.

"This... this is a virus outbreak?" Subaru looked to see the carnage that the viruses left in its wake. Even the glass dome coliseum crackled with electricity as the swarm proceeded to make work of the machinery.

"Netto-kun! I'd recognize that roar anywhere! We have to do something!" The blue navi pleaded to head back into battle, despite his already exhausted state. Netto couldn't help but nod in agreement, but stopped when the pair heard the familiar low growl as the savage looking darkloid began to materialize within the arena.

"No need to go anywhere human puppet… I'm right here!"

"Beastman! Are you behind this?" Rockman prepared to execute battle operations against their frequent foe. He wasn't planning to wait for the obvious answer as he reconfigured his arm into his signature Rock Buster and took aim.

"You think you can beat me in your sorry state?" Aware of his adversaries weakened state, Beastman charged forward with claws raised. The quick attack surprised the green eyed navi as bladed claws came towards him in a downwards sweep at an alarming speed. He braced himself for the attack, but it never came.

Green claws clashed with silver as Warrock held back the snarling beast. The AMian simply grinned as he pushed Beastman back with what was left of his strength as he muttered, "I got your back, kid. So you get mine. Hurry up and shoot." Warrock shot towards the darkloid like a green comet while Rockman rapidly fired his buster.

"Don't get in my way!" Beastman roared as he locked claws with the new opponent. He wasn't expecting this turn of events. To think that the two of them would work together was not part of their plans. It was a battle of strengths as the two belligerent navis pushed against one another.

Unnoticed, Rockman had already snuck behind the preoccupied darkloid as he prepared the program advance that he had yet to shoot. "Warrock! Watch out! Zeta Cannon!"

As quick as he came, the green and blue alien leapt back as the powerful blast hit Beastman square in the back. He just barely escaped the blast's radius of the attack as he whistled in admiration of the cannon's fire power. As the dust cleared, any remnant of the darkloid was gone. "Hum… that was quick…" He grumbled slightly in disappointment. "I was hoping for more of a challenge."

"It's not over yet," Rockman warned as he looked around to see the darkloid nowhere in sight. "They're probably going to set up another Dimensional Area…! Netto-kun!"

"Okay! Log out!" Netto acknowledged his navi's request as he connected the transmission beam from his PET to the crackling dome to recall his NetNavi back. Warrock followed soon after as he returned to Subaru's own PET. Turning to Subaru, Netto motioned for him to flee as well along with the other kids. "You have to get out of here before—"

A loud crash cut the boy off as the all too familiar dimensional area dome began to materialize overhead. Viruses began to solidify into the real world, causing extensive damage to not only the machines but to the arcade building itself. "Watch out!" Subaru yelled out as he noticed the crumbling ceiling. In the nick of time, Subaru tackled Netto to the ground to dodge the falling debris. "A-Are you alright?"

Shaking off the shock of nearly having a near death experience, Netto nodded and said in a trembling voice, "Th… Thanks Subaru!"

"We have to get out of here!" Getting up himself, Subaru proceeded to help the Net Savior up until two firm claws grabbed hold of him from behind. Yelling in surprise as the sharp blades dug slightly into his skin, he strained himself to look behind to see Beastman materialized as well in the real world.

"Leave Subaru out of this!" Netto exclaimed as he got up through his own strength. Pulling out his PET and Synchro chip, the brown haired Net Savior prepared to take down the darkloid once and for all. "Synchro chip! Slot in!"

As he inserted the blue chip in, the PET disappeared as Rockman's data started to collect around his body, creating a sphere of blinding light that burst soon afterwards. R Rockman charged head first to pry his friend out of the darkloid's grips, breaking Beastman's claws once more.

Subaru unceremoniously fell down onto the floor. Thankfully, none of his wounds were particularly critical as he pulled himself together to make his way out of Beastman's danger radius. Breathing a sigh of relief as he saw the brunette make his way to safety outside, R Rockman focused his attention back on the darkloid.

"Don't think this is over!" Beastman roared out as a dark chip materialized before him. It glowed with a dark aura before it burst into a sickening black purple cloud of evil energy. The darkloid's body hungrily absorbed its power, repairing his claws along with granting them a sharper edge. "I'll show you the true power of a darkloid!"

"Watch out Netto-kun! He's coming!" Rockman's voice echoed in Netto's mind. With quick reflexes, R Rockman was able to catch the claws with his bare hands once again. However, pushing back, let alone shattering, the claws proved to be another task.

"Ugh, he's… he's a lot stronger now! And we didn't even have a chance to download any battle chips!" Netto struggled to hold back the darkloid's advance as he was pushed down to a kneeling position. Beastman's eyes were completely blood shot like a rabid animal. He doubted there was any coherent thought other than to destroy that was running through the beast's mind.

The brown eyed Net Savior swore that he was done for, until a bolt of blue struck the brown darkloid square in the side that knocked him through the arcade room's wall. Finally allowed to catch his breath, R Rockman shakily looked up to see the mysterious blue navi that he had been searching for. The small beeping sound from the newly installed attachment to his PET echoed in his ear to indicate that the navi was the genuine article.

There was silence between the two of them until Netto suddenly pointed an accusing finger at the enigma of a navi as its presence clicked into his mind. "You! You're that… that Ryuusei guy!"

"Eh? Ryuusei?" the Denpa Henkaned Subaru pointed at himself to verify that the boy was referring to him. He was so used to be calling "Rockman," so it never occurred to him that a new nickname might be thrown at him.

"Shooting star? Hm… how fitting. Just roll with it, kid." Warrock's voice resounded out of the device on Rockman's arm. Thankfully, it was low enough so that Netto wasn't able to hear.

"What are you doing here?" R Rockman exclaimed as he pulled himself back up. He had so many questions to ask the stranger. "Who—"

"Now's now the time!" Subaru didn't have to explain why as Beastman charged through the freshly made hole, seemingly uninjured by the tackle. He roared out in anger as another dark chip materialized over him. His body greedily absorbed the dark energy, powering up the darkloid even more. For a split second, Subaru thought that he felt a noise resonance with Beastman's increasingly corrupted form. But there was no time to dwell on the fact as the rabid navi lunged once again to slice them in two. "We should take him out first!"

Nodding in unison, both blue clad warriors materialized their respective busters and shot at the charging beast. The energy shots proved to have little effect as Beastman plowed through them like a wrecking ball.

* * *

"You gave that no brain darkloid another dark chip?" Needleman prodded his NetOp's on the reason for her actions. "Besides that… that navi appeared. Shouldn't you be taking some precautions into gettin' him on our side? How're ya gonna' do that if he's torn to shreds?"

"I think you're underestimating him." Yuriko smiled slightly as she watched the battle out of view and out of danger. "If that navi can't even beat Beastman… then there's no point if we acquire him. Besides…" The woman tapped her earring slightly. It gave off a low hum to signal the navi's presence along with its function as a Noise frequency emitter.

"Besides what…?" the spike headed darkloid curiously asked in a dark tone. He knew the woman was up to something, and he wanted in on it.

"I want to test something out…" With a small twist of the earring's studded jewel, she set the volume of the frequency higher.

* * *

"Take this! Freeze Knuckles!" Subaru yelled out as he downloaded the battle card manually. He felt the cool blue metal fist materialize over his hand and promptly punched the floor with it. A slick sheet of ice spider webbed across the floor and underneath Beastman's feet until it froze the darkloid solid from head to toe.

Quickly gaining the flow of the battle, Netto quickly shot his Rock Buster to shatter Beastman's frozen figure in hopes to deal critical damage. The mist left in the blast's wake obscured their vision of the darkloid until the veil was literally sliced away. Before either could react, Beastman had already pinned "Ryuusei" to the wall with his bladed claws. R Rockman attempted to shoot the darkloid off him, but the blasts seemed to deflect off. Subaru struggled to get free as he felt his ears ring clearly once again with the mind splitting noise. He could begin to hear the noise slowly converge into one familiar voice, the voice of the Meteor Server.

"_Resonating Noise Confirmed. Respond…?"_

There was no need to even ask as small bits of white colored Noise fragments began to materialize around him. Subaru was ready for what was about to happen as he felt a new power enter his body. "Noise Change…" he muttered in complete control, as his body glowed with a white light. Even Beastman jumped back from the sudden brightness that took him by surprise as Subaru announced the form, "Wolf!" The light immediately dispelled by the simple utterance alone.

"It… It's almost like Style Change…!" Netto gawked at the new form the navi obtained. The normally blue armor changed into a darker navy. Two yellow claw shaped spikes protruded from each shoulder guard. The helmet too had a wild look which resembled notably like a wolf. He could hear the steady beeping from the tracker become more frequent. "The energy level from him is also getting higher… What does it mean?" Netto simply muttered to himself.

"This is…?" Subaru looked down at his hands to see the changes himself. He'd experienced it before during his fight with Phantom Black when the Ace Program fully activated. His body felt lighter and quicker, and he felt new strength resonate within him. Clenching his fist, he focused his sights once more on Beastman who was recovering his bearings once more.

Finally able to speak coherently, the darkloid barked out "You! How dare you…! I'll delete you first!" Unleashing a flurry of diagonal swipes at the mysterious navi, he failed to notice that not one of his attacks was connecting in his blind rage.

"Wide Claw!" Subaru yelled out as his right hand changed into a large bladed claw that rivaled or maybe even surpassed Beastman's in deadliness. With a fast horizontal swipe, three sickle-like shockwaves were sent out that scarred the darkloid considerably upon impact. Deep gashes could be seen on his central body where the shockwave hit, but most noticeably his whole arm was cut clean off from the blades. Beastman cried out in a mixture of anger and pain at the critical wounds he received.

Shooting a quick glance in R Rockman's direction, the Net Savior knew what he had to do. Nodding his head in recognition to what he assumed to be his ally, he prepared to finish off the darkloid once and for all with the only weapon that he had on him. "Rock Buster!"

* * *

"Shi shi shi…" Needleman chuckled from the PET. He completely disregarded the death of one of his comrade darkloids. "Beastman is done for. Not that I cared much for the guy. Is it time for us to head in to get that… what's his name again? Didn't that brat call him Ryuusei?"

"Hum… Can't do that quite yet, Needleman" Yuriko pondered on the possibility of the navi coming peacefully and quietly. It wasn't necessarily out of the question, but judging by the previous hostility Needleman received in their last encounter and the Net Savior's recognition of her own face, it didn't seem like a likely possibility. However, as the dimensional area fell, she witnessed something truly unexpected. "We just have to catch the navi at a different time. But… we got some useful info and some new footage. Today wasn't a loss."

Finally turning her back to the wrecked building, the mysterious woman disappeared back into the shadows with a slight smile tugging at her lips. "Things… just got a lot more interesting."

* * *

"Whaaaaat?" Netto poked at the EM Rockman's arm to make sure he wasn't an illusion. The dimensional area had already disappeared, yet the mysterious "Ryuusei" had yet to disappear along with it. "How are you still materialized without a dimensional area? Is that even possible?"

"U-Uhm… Well…" the EM wave warrior tried to formulate a response, but at the same time didn't want to hint off unnecessarily on who he might be. He considered just running off after the field fell, but he did tell Netto in the heat of battle that he was going to answer one or two questions. However, at the rate this was going, he was prepared to pulse out of view to escape the insistent questions.

"What did you do back there? Are you a NetNavi? Who's your NetOp? Where did you come from?" the boy's questions shot out at a rapid pace, faster then Subaru could even answer if he were planning to. "Hey! I see that look on your face! Don't you dare run off again!"

"Kid… just ditch this guy!" Warrock's voice echoed equally as insistently into Subaru's head. Agreeing with his partner's suggestion, Subaru prepared to make his quick exit.

"S-Sorry. I got something to do. B-Bye!" Quickly waving goodbye, Subaru prepared to change his frequency out of visibility. Giving off a faint glow, he disappeared into thin air, leaving Netto standing alone once more.

"Auuugh! Nooo! Get back here!" Netto yelled out.

"Netto-kun… I think he's gone. Even the tracker indicates—" Rockman tried to calm his NetOp down to no avail yet again. Once the boy's blood is set to boil over, it's hard to cool him down.

"Darn that… that Ryuusei guy! I'm going to get him back next time! I'll bring a giant bug net so he can't escape!" Netto began to formulate multiple plots on how to keep the hastily nicknamed navi from running away again. None of which were viable in any way whatsoever. Rockman EXE couldn't help but sigh until they heard a familiar friendly voice. For a second, they both thought that the mysterious navi had reappeared again, but turned to see Subaru running towards them.

"Ah! It seems Subaru is alright!" Rockman exclaimed happily. They last saw him run out of the arcade building to take shelter, but it was good to see their friend with only a few scratches here and there.

"Aw man~ I thought that it was going to be that Ryuusei guy..." Netto whined slightly. However, he had newfound respect for his acquaintance. Waving back, Netto realized that he had to properly thank him. After all, the guy did save his life when the building was crumbling. The least he could do was trust him as a friend.

* * *

Unseen on the rooftops of the neighboring buildings, the black robed figure stood watching. His glowing red eyes looked down at the events that had unfolded. Feelings were masked by his indifferent and unmoving features. Brushing his bangs to the side, the figure's full lime green hair with frayed purple ends swayed slightly from the small breeze atop the roof tops.

"That energy…" he began in a low voice, but paused slightly as he contemplated his own thirst and yearning. He could feel himself become increasingly excited. The challenge was enticing, but the rewards it offered were what he truly sought. "I'll find it… and drink its power dry."

And down below outside the arcade building, Subaru could feel a shiver run up his spine.


	5. Sinking Predicament! Hacked Ability!

AN: Sorry for the long wait everyone. I've started college and it took me a while to readjust to life living on my own. Thank you to everyone who sent me words of encouragement. Don't worry! I'm not planning on quitting!

**Chapter 5: Sinking Predicament! Hacked Ability?**

"Are you sure you saw correctly?"

"I'm positive Dr. Regal. I saw it with my own eyes." Yuriko looked up at the sitting figure of the mysterious man. She couldn't discern his expression due to the shadows casted from the light behind him, but it was obvious he was intrigued by the information. "That navi, Ryuusei… it stayed materialized even when the dimensional area disappeared."

"Practicality would state that it's impossible… but…" the figure turned his chair towards the lighted screens. He'd been analyzing what had happened the previous day at the arcade. While his ultimate goal of world domination was still on mind, he could not simply ignore this anomaly. What kind of technology did it utilize to stay materialized in the real world? He had to know. Muttering under his breath, the genius scientist contemplated, "Perhaps this navi… isn't a navi at all."

"Sir… It's obvious that it is on the Net Saviors' side." Yuriko interjected her own thoughts. She may have shared the same curiosity, but the threat that the anomaly presented was something that could not be dismissed. The mystery behind its power was what especially bothered her. It looked and battled like any NetNavi would, but according to simple analyzing it was of a completely different composition altogether. Further analysis would be needed to determine exactly what it was. There was no telling what the thing could and could not do, which was a large part of her worry. "Did you not say that we should eliminate any threat to Nebula's plan?"

"You're right. I did say that…" Regal nodded his head slightly to acknowledge Yuriko's concern. He turned to look straight as the kneeling woman who was more then just a little disgruntled on being sent on a wild goose hunt. Even with a tracker and a frequency resonator, trying to catch the mysterious navi was like trying to grasp water. The man continued in order to ease her thoughts, "You won't specifically go out to find the navi. Rather, let's call it… a side mission."

Raising an eyebrow, the woman couldn't help but question his choice of words. "Side… mission?"

"Our mission still remains the same. With or without this Ryuusei character, we must still carry it out. However, let's just say if the opportunity presents itself then take action to secure it." Tapping the chair's arm support, Regal continued to think upon the benefits if they were so lucky to be presented such a chance. "Yes. Obviously we cannot lure out this 'Ryuusei' intentionally with the information we have now… but if so…" he mumbled to himself as he reviewed over the anomaly's various powers that it seemed to have at its disposal, "… to be able to materialize outside of a dimensional area… to emit an energy signal of the quality and magnitude to disrupt electronics… the ability to mutate programs at will…"

"Sir…? What of Shademan?" Yuriko inquired suddenly. While she cared little to nothing about Shademan himself, she knew that the darkloid was a being that could not be easily trifled with. "Beastman's deletion no doubt bothers him immensely."

"Hmph… Let him rampage all he wants. It will get him nowhere. I've already sent one of those 'darkloids' on another mission. I hope to see some results." Regal said this with great disdain. One need not be a brilliant scientist to see that the beings known as darkloids could not live nor function without the dark chips that he supplied. Shademan was just a simple pawn in the palm of his hand that was as easily disposable as he was replaceable. However, at its mere mention, a flicker of an idea ignited in Regal's mind as a smile began to tug at the side of his lips. "Yuriko… how is your attempts at converting one of those Net Saviors' navis to the dark?"

"It is still being worked on." Yuriko stated flatly. She wasn't sure whether or not he was disappointed by the news judging by his expression. "Finding someone that can get close to the Net Saviors is proving… difficult"

Regal nodded before turning once more to the large screen. He looked to his work once more and pulled up a few papers. "Let us hit two birds with one stone then. I… need you to look into someone for me. He'll be a good candidate."

* * *

"Netto! Hey, Netto!" Subaru tried to shake the brunette awake. He literally slept like a log, much like how his NetNavi and friends described.

"Neeetto-kun!" Rockman yelled out louder then any alarm clock could from the PET. It was morning already, and at the rate they were going, Netto would be late for school once again. The poor NetNavi thought that with the other boy's help, it may be perhaps possible for the two's combined voice and nagging to wake him up. It was however all in vain as it only served to produce more garbled mumblings from Netto's drooling mouth. Rockman simply sighed, "Ah… it's no use, even with the two of us!"

"Ooy! Subaru!" Warrock whispered over to his partner from his own PET. "Put me up against the kid's ear. Might want to brace yourself though."

Obliging the alien's request, Subaru put his PET up besides Netto's right ear. He knew what was to come, and promptly plugged his own ears up to be prepared for the worse. Rockman followed Subaru's example as well as he covered his own noise receptors.

With a deep inhale, Warrock let out a deafening roar that literally shook the house. "WAAAAKE UP, KID!"

Subaru swore that a few car security alarms went off outside from the sheer noise that his partner produced. It would have woken anyone up. Anyone… except for Netto at least.

"Unbelievable! Even with that racket…" Rockman let out an exasperated breath on his NetOps wondrous ability. "He's as good as late!"

"Why don't we try a different approach? Something… less loud." Subaru said as he tried to clear out his ears to hear clearly again. If he didn't cover his own ears, he was sure that Warrock's yell would have made him deaf. For the couple of days that he's known Netto, Subaru had an idea. Kneeling down to the bed's level, Subaru whispered into Netto's ear, "Hey Netto. Meiru told me that your school is holding a Net Battling tournament… and um… the prize is a life time supply of curry."

Just the simple mention of curry was enough to have the brunette Net Savior spring from bed at lightning speed accompanied by an excited yell of, "That prize is as good as mine!"

There was a long pause of silence as Netto's mind began to register where exactly he was. He silently looked from Subaru's face, to Rockman's, to the window displaying the sun high in the sky. Finally the puzzle pieces in his scrambled mind clicked into place, and he literally flew off his bed. "Oh no! I'm late again! Aaaaugh! What time is it?"

Subaru couldn't help but laugh nervously at how effective his method was. Not wanting to stick around to see Netto fly from corner to corner of his room to prepare for school, Subaru quickly exited with a small wave. "Catch you outside, Netto." The boy doubted however that the scrambling brunette could hear him amidst his own panicking as he closed the door behind him

"That kid is quite the handful. Can't help but feel sorry for that Rockman guy." Warrock crossed his arms as he nodded to his own statement.

"Kettle calling the pot black, eh?" Subaru couldn't help but add in sarcastically. The alien had been a source of stress and excitement ever since he met him. "You're one to talk, Warrock…"

"What's that supposed to mean?" The AMian huffed back at the backhanded remark as he gestured towards the bedroom door they'd exited from. "Don't compare me to that kid over there! Heck, I'd say that I'm-"

"Yeah, yeah~" Subaru simply dismissed his companion's continued ranting as he headed downstairs towards the dining room where Haruka Hikari had already set up breakfast. On the table, a steaming bowl of rice was piled high in each bowl along with a side dish of salted fish and pickled vegetables. There was even a small basket of bread rolls if one were to choose a different source of starch. Walking over to the table, Haruka had placed a fresh plate of sweet egg rolls and sausages. "Ah, Haruka-san… Netto is awake now."

"Oh, thank you Subaru! Rockman has so much trouble by himself." Haruka smiled as she clasped her hands together. A slight guilt washed over Subaru as he couldn't help but be reminded of his own mother who was no doubt worried sick. "Thank you very much, Subaru-kun. And you too, Warrock! Feel free to sit down." She gestured over to one of the empty seats at the table as she returned to finishing up Netto's bento lunch box. Not wanting to disrespect her hospitality, Subaru gave a slight nod of thanks as he took a seat.

Though, before he could even reach for the food, the thumping sound of foot steps sounded from behind him. Turning to see the Netto rush towards the dining room, Subaru attempted to greet him with an official "Good Morning" but was drowned out by the boy's still panicked outbursts.

"Aaaah man! I didn't finish my homework… there's a test today… and I'm going to be late again! Mariko sensei is going to flip!" Netto quickly started stuffing as much rice, egg, and sausage into his mouth as he could. Nearly choking on the food that he forced down his throat, he pounded his chest to allow the food passage through his throat and into his stomach.

"Netto-kun, slow down!" his NetNavi's concerned voice tried to calm the boy's sudden hyper activity. "Did you even wash your hands?"

"O-Of course I did! Besides, if you woke me up earlier I wouldn't have to rush!" Netto snapped back at RockmanEXE who wasted no time in scolding him. In a rush, the brunette was already heading towards the front door with a bread roll in hand as he waved good bye to his mother and house guest, "I'm heading out!"

"Have a nice day at school~!" Haruka casually waved good bye back. She seemed un-phased by her son's quick exit as the door slammed shut behind him. Subaru could easily guess that this occurrence was normal for Netto's morning school days. "My~ That boy is always so efficient~" Haruka lightly laughed with slight embarrassment at having a guest see the usual morning routine.

"I guess… um… I better head out as well…" Subaru couldn't help but feel awkward around Netto's mother. Rather, he felt awkward staying over at a stranger's house. The Hikari family was very hospitable and sympathetic to his situation, but the fact that Subaru had feigned amnesia to earn such kindness only made the boy feel horribly guilty. Not having enough time previously due to the arcade incident, Subaru wanted to get back to finding his way out of his predicament as soon as possible. As he headed for the door, he was struck with a sense of déjà vu when Haruka Hikari stopped him.

"Oh! Subaru, I hope you don't mind doing me a favor… but it seems Netto forgot his lunch this time." Just thinking about her son's reaction to not have a lunch made her chuckle. She was holding the finished bento box wrapped in a handkerchief. No doubt it was made with all the care and love from a mother to her son. "He must've left in quite a hurry to forget."

"U-Uhm… Yeah. It's no problem." Subaru took the small wrapped box from her hands. It was heavier then it looked most likely due to it being stuffed full with food.

"What are you? A delivery service? You should just leave it here and teach that kid a lesson on responsibility." Warrock spoke up as he materialized outside of the PET once more. Thankfully, it was out of earshot (or rather out of frequency) for Haruka to hear. "One day without lunch should remind him to not forget again. Serves him right too."

"Warrock… You know I can't do that…!" Subaru tried to whisper back to his companion.

"Hm? What's wrong?" Haruka asked as she visually saw Subaru mutter over to nothing. Worry crossed her face as she asked, "Is it too much trouble? You don't have to—"

"Ah! N-No! It's alright! I'll be sure to get this to Netto." Quickly replying back before she could finish, Subaru began to make his exit with the lunch in tow. He waved goodbye as he gently closed the door shut behind him. Breathing a sigh of relief, he glanced at the lunch box that he was carrying, and back onto the road ahead. No doubt, this was a bit of déjà vu.

"You want to take the inter-whatever road again?" The AMian suggested as he looked up to see the unfamiliar frequency of the "wave" road above. It wasn't particularly a wave road, but it resembled more like electrical pulses. Either way, they were all the same to the alien if they could both be traversed upon.

Subaru simply nodded as he ran over behind some bushes for cover as he pulsed in.

* * *

"What exactly have you found out?" Enzan asked anxiously as he drummed his fingers on the table top. He was sitting down on one of the many chairs that circled the main conference room table at SciLab. Some officials from the Net Police along with a few scientists were seated as well. Meijin himself was sitting directly across from the blue eyed Net Savior who seemed to stick out in comparison to the other officials due to his much younger appearance. All of them had finally gathered to address not only on how to deal with the frequent darkloid attacks, but also with the strange "Ryuusei" that had been popping up. Enzan himself didn't care too much for Netto's nickname of the anomaly, but it sort of stuck.

"From what we've recently gathered…" Yuuichiro began as he gestured towards the central screen, "Dark chips empower NetNavis of any kind with the cost of losing their 'soul' you can say. But we've come to find also that with increased use of dark chips, there's an alternate side effect."

"An alternate side effect?" Kifune, the head Commissioner of the Net Police, repeated the words. He raised an eyebrow, looking for clarification in what the scientist was trying to show. "Are you saying it does more then destroy the Navis' morality data?"

"Correct." Meijin spoke up before Yuuichiro could answer. He stood up to take his place next to the scientist as he continued the explanation that the both of them had researched. "Not only does it corrupt their soul… but it also corrupts their programming as a whole. The end result: Deletion. With continued use, I'd imagine that even the darkloids would feel the effects."

"Strangely though, the 'corruption' that the programming is affected by is an energy source all on its own." Yuuichiro continued, "We found this out specifically through 'Ryuusei' who can utilize this energy which we've dubbed as 'Noise'. They solidify into space when he appears." Clicking a button on the remote for the projector, the screen changed to a visual images of materialized 'Noise' that was present during all three recent darkloid incidents. "We found that the energy spikes that we detected have all been due to Ryuusei's presence solidifying and condensing Noise energy into the real world."

"I presume that there is a bad side effect to Noise being materialized." Enzan stated flatly as he predicted where exactly the conclusion was leading up to. "Having something that can potentially corrupt a navi's programming floating around can only mean bad news."

"Yes. You're correct in your presumption." Yuuichiro nodded hesitantly. "Noise not only corrupt and mutate NetNavi data, but it also can also potentially affect any electronic devices, but-"

"If that's so, then this Ryuusei is equally dangerous if not more so and should be immediately eliminated." One of the Net Police officials interjected in a firm voice. An evident scowl was on his face, but Enzan could see a spark of fear in his eyes. "No doubt, he poses a danger to everything just by his presence. He could be another darkloid agent if anything."

"Unlikely." Enzan stated as he glared at the official's outburst. "On all three occurrences, Ryuusei had actually fought against the darkloids. Both Hikari Netto and I can attest to that."

"Don't get sentimental with this navi." The man retorted out hastily. It was obvious that his pride was hurt from being talked down to by someone so much younger. "Just because he may have saved your sorry hide does not excuse his dangerous—"

"That's enough! This is not the time or place to act like children." Kifune said in a hard voice to silence the squabbling. Enzan couldn't help but smirk as he saw the cornered official scoff to the side. "Let Yuuichiro present the remaining data before we come up with a counter measure." The commissioner looked back at the scientist who was standing idly waiting for the situation to be defused. With a nod, they continued.

"Thank you, Commissioner Kifune. Since we're on the topic, why don't we skip ahead to talk more on this navi which we have all come to refer to as Ryuusei." With another click of a button, the visual changed to an image of Ryuusei, Black Ace, and the new 'Wolf' form Ryuusei. They were able to attain the images on them directly through both Blues and Rockman's memory data. Clearing his throat, Yuuichiro continued his explanation, "These two alternate forms, Black Ace and Wolf, are the affects of varying degrees of Noise on Ryuusei. The greater the condensation of Noise, the more powerful he becomes. We observed that at the highest level, Noise takes on a crimson color."

"But the most astounding part of it is that we've discovered that Ryuusei has the ability to also absorb Noise from other navis who are incompatible with it much like what happened with Beastman." Meijin referred over to the incident in which Beastman's rabid frenzy was suddenly silenced after Ryuusei's transformation. Shifting his glasses up slightly, he concluded, "Ryuusei can cure corruption as effectively as he can corrupt by either absorbing or releasing Noise respectively."

Yuuichiro turned off the projector, preparing for the conclusion of the presentation as he added in. "Not only that, but he could hypothetically track the location of a dark chip every time its used by the energy signature that is released. He can be as great of help as much as he can be a danger depending on what his goals are."

The room was silent as everyone took in the large amount of information. Many of the seated officials nodded their head in recognition of the prodigious amount of information and the quick analyzing that followed by the two genius scientists. However, none spoke up on a possible course of action. As useful as the information was, it only increased the anxiety that everyone felt. It was Enzan however that broke the silence.

"Seeing Ryuusei's actions of late, he appears to not be hostile to us at all," Enzan stated coolly as he brought his hands together. "And has actually helped out the Net Saviors on multiple occasions. If we can just talk to him, I'm sure that we can convince him to help our cause."

"All of this information is all fine and well…" One of the officials brought up with an even tone. "But do we have any leads on where exactly we can find Ryuusei?"

"At this time, nothing is set in stone." Yuuichiro stated with a frown. It was the inevitable dead end that was sure to come until further information came in. The scientists and officials talked amongst each other for an hour until the meeting's end in which everyone dispersed with a disappointed look. Only Meijin and Enzan had stayed behind. The scientist was packing up the presentation equipment while Enzan stayed seated where he was.

The boy couldn't help but be disgruntled himself at the meeting's conclusion. "In the end... we couldn't come up with anything." He turned to Meijin, knowing now that there were no longer any prying ears. "Why did you leave out the fact that Ryuusei can stay materialized outside of the Dimensional Area?"

Meijin paused, a cardboard box with the materials he had used in his arms. While he didn't make eye contact, he answered Enzan's question with his own. "How do you think the NetPolice officers would respond? How do you think the scientists would respond?"

Enzan could only nod silently. He already knew the answer. From just the information presented today, everyone in the meeting was incredibly anxious with the dangers that Ryuusei posed. Adding on to it with that kind of information would produce dangerous results. He couldn't help but confirm some of his suspicion as he stated, "There really is a lead to find Ryuusei."

"There is… one link." Meijin said as he finally placed the heavy box on the table, his eyebrows furrowed slightly. "It's only a suspicion, and it might simply just be a coincidence, but there is only one person who happens to be present at every occasion Ryuusei shows up. Not only that but… his back ground is a bit…" the scientist trailed off and turned his eyes finally towards Enzan.

Under the scientist's constant stare, Enzan finally stood up from his seat and began to leave before saying; "I'll go talk to him again."

* * *

"So in the end… that Ryuusei guy got away!" Netto said as he leaned back in his chair. The hind legs balancing him teetered dangerously. He had made it just in time to receive another nagging from Mariko sensei. "What a paaaain!"

"You should be happy that no one was injured." Meiru reminded him that his mission wasn't to catch the navi at the time, but to protect the civilians in the area. She sighed while shaking her head once more as she attempted to berate him.

"You sure you weren't just chicken?" Dekao mocked on the side. He gave a cocky smirk as he continued. "I bet Gutsman and I could have taken him easy with one hand tied behind our backs!"

"Ha! That's a laugh!" Netto smiled smugly back at Dekao as he mockingly shrugged his shoulders in fake dismay over Dekao and Gutsman's notorious track record. "You don't even stand a chance against Rockman and I! What makes you think you'd do any better?"

"At least I wouldn't have ran with my tail behind my legs!" Dekao began to raise his voice as he slammed his hands on the table in rage. If there was one thing he hated, it was when Netto brought up Gutsman and Rockman's win-loss ratio.

However, this only prompted Netto to exclaim with the same amount of enthusiasm as he too slammed a fist on his desk. "There's no way I would run away! I told you! It was him that ran away!"

"Enough you two!" Meiru finally shouted at the two. She had already brought out her bento and was proceeding to unwrap it. With a small huff she glared at the two boys into silence. "It's hard enough to eat when only _one_ of you is shouting. You guys better finish eating too before class starts again."

"M-Meiru-chan!" Faced with the threat of more scolding, Dekao quickly put the argument out of mind as he too began to take out his monster-sized lunch. "Y-You're right! I better chow down before Mariko sensei gets back."

"Me too…" Netto said also as he began rummaging through his backpack for his own lunch. He was absolutely starving. Suddenly, his face began to pale as he sifted through his backpack more intensely. Both Meiru and Dekao stared at him silently in confusion until Netto stopped his futile search. His situation clicked into his head as his stomach suddenly growled loudly.

And then a single cry of anguish rang out across the school, and was suddenly silenced.

* * *

Meanwhile in the classroom's cyber network, the navis themselves were discussing the incident. The school's network was littered with pillars of data and floating orbs that regulated the streams of information. As the children's PETs were often connected to the desk terminals, it wasn't rare that they would get together to converse on the latest gossip.

"He sort of appeared out of nowhere." Rockman said simply as he scratched the side of his cheek. The others had been asking him questions regarding "Ryuusei", but it was hard to describe the mysterious navi that seemed to appear out of the blue as anything else but mysterious. "Ryuusei helped us defeat Beastman with what looked like a Style Change and—"

"Whoa whoa…! A Style Change?" Roll interrupted him suddenly, clasping both her hands over her mouth in shock. "I thought—"

"I-I thought… you were the only one who could Style Change…" Iceman continued with what was most likely on everyone's train of thought.

"W-Well it's not exactly Style Change. But Meijin-san told us that it was very similar." Rockman tried to explain, calming the general excitement of the crowd. "I think the strangest part though was what happened after the incident…" Rockman began to describe the scene during the arcade crisis that occurred but paused as if unsure whether such information should be divulged so easily.

"And…?" Roll prodded the blue navi as she leaned in closer. "What happened after?"

Rockman was about to open his mouth to continue until a strange sensation washed over everyone in the immediate area. Simultaneously, each navi began to look around for what they sensed was another presence. In a small classroom server such as this, it was easy to detect another navi logging into the network.

"I… I think someone just entered the server." Rockman broke the silence after confirming that no one was there. Strangely, it felt familiar. For a second, he could hear a sort of white noise ringing in his ears, but it had quickly disappeared as soon as it came. He could only assume that everyone else heard the same scratchy sound judging by the shocked expressions on their faces.

"I don't see anyone. Guts…" Gutsman muttered in a low voice, only slightly annoyed that he had looked around hastily to find nothing.

"M-Maybe it's…" Iceman began to look around once more to ensure that no one was around before whispering out, "Maybe… it's a ghost…!"

"E-Eh? A ghost? On the internet?" Rockman began to stutter out. A ghost was the last thing he wanted to see in this situation or, for that matter, in any situation.

There was an awkward silence once more as everyone took another look around for whoever or whatever came in.

Roll however, was the first to actually talk some sense as she brought both her arms to her waist, pouting slightly from the cowardly immaturity displayed by the boys. "Geez! What are all of you so scared for! It's probably just a glitch in the system. Nothing strange about it!"

"Y-Yeah! Guts!" Gutsman exclaimed as he scratched his head bashfully. "Just a glitch. Guts!"

Everyone laughed nervously at the ridiculousness of the situation that they were previously so absorbed in. However, Rockman couldn't shake off the feeling of familiarity of the noise that he heard.

* * *

"That inter-whatever road sure is convenient. You humans and your technology…" Warrock remarked almost snidely from the PET. They had just "logged out" and rematerialized back into the physical world. It was definitely a different experience in comparison to traversing cyber cores, but it was also very much the same. "What will you humans think up of next?"

"It's called the internet." Subaru attempted to explain as he headed towards what he believed to be where Netto's classroom was. He stood just outside of the classroom with Netto's bento in hand. "Internet technology was used way back before wave technology was even developed. You should already know what happens in the future."

"That'd explain why it's so easy to adapt to this PET." Warrock materialized outside once more outside from the aforementioned device. He rubbed his chin with one of his claws as if pondering whether the Internet based technology or the wave technology of the future is better. Though before he could come to a single conclusion, a loud wail came from the classroom ahead. Unsurprisingly, it sounded a lot like Netto. Warrock couldn't help but smirk in response. "Heh… Serves the kid right!"

The brunette could only laugh nervously at his companion's reaction before knocking on the classroom door. Not waiting for an answer, Subaru slowly slid the door open and peeked a head through. It was easy to spot a particularly slumped brunette that had planted his face on his desk. A few students looked up from their lunches to see Subaru, but few gave him another glance before returning to their meal.

"Oh! Hoshikawa-kun!" Meiru exclaimed in surprise as she spotted Subaru entering. The last she saw him was at the arcade the previous day. She waved to him to come over where Netto had presumably passed out. "What are you doing here?"

"I just came to deliver this." Subaru lifted up the neatly wrapped bento that Haruka Hikari had put the effort to make. Delivering yet another item to the same boy gave him that same sense of déjà vu. Looking down at Netto, Subaru couldn't help but inquire, "Is… he alright?"

Placing the bento box on the desk, Netto curiously peeked up and spotted it hungrily. In a blink of an eye, Netto shot up and grabbed a hold of the small box, lifting it above his head as if it was a gift from the gods. "My lunch! I thought I forgot—"

The blue headband-wearing brunette however stopped suddenly as he turned to his right to see Subaru. There was a pause as Netto began to register why exactly Subaru was in his classroom. All he could manage to say however was a simple "Oh" until Mariko reentered the classroom with her usual cheery smile.

As she headed towards the front of the class, she clapped her hands twice to get everyone's attention as she made her announcement. "Alright everyone, it's time for class to start! Put your lunches away!"

The class responded in a resounding "Yeees!" minus one brunette who had slumped over once more on his desk. His stomach growled once more, but Mariko didn't even seem to bat an eye. Most likely she was still flustered about Netto's habitual tardiness.

Spotting a new face among her students, she walked over to Subaru. "You need to get back to your class too, young man!" She took his hand and proceeded to try and lead him to the door despite his protests.

"I-I don't—!" Subaru tried to say but was cut short as the school suddenly shook with incredible force. A couple of students let out a surprised scream, prompting Mariko to take her hold off of Subaru to calm the kids down. From above, what appeared to be sand started seeping out from the ceiling boards and air vents. Everyone looked upwards in wonder, shielding their eyes from the falling particles.

"This is…!" Netto began to mutter under his breath as he peaked his up before leaping from his seat.

"Netto-kun! Look outside!" Rockman yelled out from the PET with urgency in his voice. As if to confirm their suspicions, as Netto looked out the window the familiar dome like field had already surrounded the school. "A dimensional area… that means it must be…!"

The Net Savior nodded silently before bolting for the door, conveniently ignoring Mariko's yells to stay put. He had already taken his PET out from his pocket to get ready for Cross Fusion away from the eyes of his peers.

Subaru himself recognized the situation immediately as well having gone through it a total of three times this past week. He quickly went for the door after Netto as he made a hasty explanation. "I'm going to go after Netto!" Subaru exclaimed as he began to close the door behind him.

"Wait! Hoshikawa-kun! It's too dangerous!" Meiru yelled out but to no avail as Subaru was already out of earshot. She quickly opened the classroom door after him but he had already disappeared. "Where… did he go?"

* * *

"Just as I thought..." Enzan stood before the school gates, unable to enter. But it wasn't the metal bars that prevented him from entering the school so much then the newly materialized dimensional area that formed around the grounds. He had just finished visiting the Hikari residence in search of the amnesiactic brunette only to be directed to another battleground.

"Enzan-sama... could it be—" Blues began to ask but was stopped by Enzan. They both knew with a single glance that the same thing was on both their mind. It wasn't a surprise that the darkloids would take an interest in most likely eliminating Ryuusei after what happened to Beastman. What did surprise the Net Savior however was how the darkloids were following the same lead, ending up at the same place where both thought Ryuusei may appear. "It seems like we aren't the first ones to get here."

"Yeah. That guy has a knack for attracting trouble." The blue eyed Net Savior couldn't help saying to his dismay as he began to bring out the familiar blue colored gem encrusted chip. "At this rate, he might as well be as much of a magnet for trouble as Netto is. Let's go, Blues."

* * *

"Theeee traaaail… ends heeeere…!" Desertman's voice came out in a long drawling moan as his form shifted across the tile floor of the cafeteria. His crowned head began to surface, revealing the gaping black pit of a mouth. The booming voice of the darkloid echoed loudly against the walls of the cafeteria. Sand was still pouring out from the newly made cracks in the ceiling as students huddled together on top of the cafeteria tables to escape the sea of sand. Turning an eye towards the defenseless children, he let a loud holler out with obvious amusement in his voice. "You feeble humans…! I'll devour you all whole…!"

The roar of the darkloid caused the sea of sand to undulate until a large wave of sand began to form, threatening to submerge the unfortunate children that lie in its wake. The kids held each other and screamed in horror as the wave's shadow casted over them. However, the impact never came. One of them dared to peek their eyes open to see what happened, only to see the wall of sand solidified before them. Curious, the kid reached out a hand but the wall collapsed into a pile of unanimated wet clods.

"Ooy! Desertman!" R Rockman yelled out from behind them, brandishing a newly materialized Aqua Sword. It became apparent that he was the one responsible for halting the attack as he pointed the tip of the blade at the darkloid's shifting form. "Why don't you pick on someone your own size?"

"Yooou're not the one I'm looking foooor." Desertman's mouth opened wide as his voice seemed to slur every word. Once more, the sand began to stir on its own until it became a sinkhole. The very nature of the ground became that of quick sand as Netto found himself being dragged towards the center. "Buuut I'll glaaaadly deletee yoou heeere annd noooow!"

"You won't get me with the same trick twice!" He struggled against the strangely sticky texture of the sand that clung to him, reaching all the way up to his knees. From his previous experience, he already had an idea on what to expect as he lifted up his weapon. "Aqua Sword!"

* * *

"Where did Netto go?" Subaru said under his breath as he pushed against fleeing students heading the opposite direction. He could only assume that heading against the flow of the crowd would take him to where the trouble was.

"This is new, kid." Warrock floated upwards above him to take a look past the crowd. Despite such, the AMian couldn't help but chuckle slightly as he mentioned, "You aren't usually so quick to jump into danger. What's got you worked up?"

"Well that's because..." Subaru began to say before stopping suddenly in his tracks. The last of the students had finished evacuating, leaving Subaru alone in the halls with only far away foot steps slowly fading into the distance. He looked up to where Warrock was, shifting his Visualizer down over his eyes. "It's because... he's my friend..."

It felt strange to say. Not because he called Netto a friend but for a different reason. Since coming to what was said to be the "past", Subaru tried to not become too attached to the people he met here. But without his knowing, he already had developed ties to this era. The fear of never seeing those he cared for washed over him like in the past as he tried to correct his previous words. "N-No... Netto isn't my—"

Seeing the hesitancy in his eyes, Warrock couldn't help but cross his arms. "Look kid. I know what you're thinking, but you've got it all wrong."

"Eh?"

"I thought Daigo would have taught you better." Warrock shook his head in disappointment as if expecting more out of the boy. "You've been here for more then a week and you still haven't realized it yet?"

Subaru could only look at his partner in confusion. He was unsure of what the alien was trying to get at.

"If there's one thing that Daigo taught me, it's that bonds aren't something that you can choose and pick to form or break." Warrock stared down at Subaru with his red eyes, and then shifted his gaze out one of the windows towards the sky. "You may not have your Brother Bands right now... but you still feel the 'bond' that you have with everyone back home, right? Just because our stay here is temporary, it doesn't mean you have to fear losing the friends you make here as well."

Subaru paused to take in Warrock's words, looking downwards as if to contemplate their meaning. He rolled it over in his mind before coming to a clear understanding. Looking up at his partner, he gave a firm nod. "You're right... Thanks Warrock" Putting a hand to his chest, he could feel his heart beat with a slower rhythm. His words gave him comfort that he didn't have to be alone. "Just because... I might not see them again, it doesn't mean that the bonds we make here will be broken..."

As Subaru prepared to sprint down the halls once more, a new yet familiar voice sounded across the halls from behind him. "Oh? What are you still doing here?" Subaru turned, taking his Visualizers off to see the same woman he had met in the arcade. She still had the same slick and cool voice with a trench coat on her shoulders. It threw him into confusion on why she was here of all places, but she continued to walk closer with worry on her face. "Didn't you hear the noise, boy? You should be evacuating the school for your own safety."

"You're..." Subaru began to say but found he was suddenly breathing heavily. Something began to ring louder and louder in his ears as the woman drew near. He gripped his head as a headache began to pound once more. "You're... that woman... from before?"

"You don't look too good." She leaned in closer, taking off her shades once more to show her deep brown eyes that complemented her braided hair. Looking up, Subaru noticed in particular a dark jewel stud on one of her ears that sparkled ominously.

"This woman rubs me the wrong way... but she's right in that sense." Warrock turned to Subaru who was showing visual signs of deterioration in health. He wasn't sure what was causing it, but the AMian turned a side-glance at the woman. "Kid, get a hold of yourself. You can't fight in that condition."

"I'm... I'm alright." Subaru looked up at to see the woman stand over him. He tried to give a reassuring smile to both the stranger and his partner, but it came off a bit weak. Taking a deep breath, he tried to block off the incessant ringing from his mind. Walking past the stranger, he tried to hastily leave towards where Netto was. "S-Sorry... but I have to get going."

"Wait...!" The woman grabbed his shoulder suddenly to stop his escape. Despite her appearance, her grip on him was strong enough to hold him fast. "It's dangerous up ahead."

Subaru paused to look at her face again. With a closer look, it clicked in his mind the similarities in her face with the teacher he had met only moments ago. Even more confused, Subaru couldn't help but ask. "Who... are you?"

The woman smiled as if she were waiting for him to ask that question. "My name is Yuriko. You don't remember me? I gave you a gift not too long ago didn't I?"

"Gift... Ah!" Subaru dug through his pockets to take out a certain dark colored chip that had gone unused. He didn't even know what it did, but he wasn't planning on using it anytime soon with Warrock. AMians weren't exactly compatible with battle cards, so he'd assume the same thing with battle chips. "I wanted to return this to you. I'm... not exactly capable of using it."

Yuriko chuckled at the outstretched hand returning the "gift" that she had so frequently handed out. This was the first time anyone had returned a Dark Chip to her, but she could only assume that the boy was simply one who wasn't fond of Net Battling. A rare occurrence, but sometimes it happened that she made such a mistake. "Keep it. Didn't I say it was a gift?" She released her grip on his shoulders and patted him on the head. "You're such a good boy. If you don't use it... then you should give it to someone that needs it then. It can make NetNavis very powerful after all."

All Subaru could do was nod at the stranger's advice. Finally free, Subaru attempted to make another quick leave as he said, "I... best be going. Thank you!" At that, he ran off and made a quick turn around the corner to get out of the woman's field of vision.

Now standing alone in the empty halls of the school, Yuriko couldn't help but let a smirk slip on her face. The only sounds now were the shifting of sand as streams of the particles fell from the ceiling cracks. She put her shades back on and began to walk off in the opposite direction. Fiddling with her earring once more, she muttered under her breath. "I'm sure we'll be meeting again soon, Hoshikawa Subaru."

* * *

"Fuuutile...! All of it fuuuutile!" Desertman's voice boomed once more as his head surfaced above the sea of sand. The wet clods that had formed from the aqua sword's swings began to dry at a rapid pace. The sand seemed to suck the moisture from the battle chips within seconds as more and more sand began to pour from the ceiling. "Diiiid yoou thiiiink the saaame taaactic wooould work?"

"Rockman... another battlechip!" Netto said with urgency as he prepared himself for another wave of sand coming their way. While he had rescued most of the kids who were unfortunate enough to be caught in the heat of battle, Desertman had managed to secure one student in his sandy grip.

"We don't have anymore downloaded!" The Navi's voice echoed within the brunnette's head in distress. Their last weapon was used up, and they were running out of options. Only a standard Rock Buster was usable at this point, and it proved even less effective then what they were using before. "Netto-kun...! We have to find his weak point!"

"I know, I know!" Netto exclaimed his standard virus buster materialized over his right arm. He took aim and shot at Desertman's exposed head, but it seemed to do little to no damage. He hated to admit it, but having Enzan with him during their last encounter with Desertman made it seem easy. "But I can't get a good hit on him without hitting—!"

"Yoou cannot hope too wiiin, hummaan!" Desertman began to shift and undulate once more to create another tsunami of a wave. He had been hiding his head behind the human child to avoid the cross fused human's assaults after learning from his previous experience. But now that his adversary had expended his last resource, it became safer to approach. With sand continuously pouring into the room, having a little of his body solidify was of no concern. "Yoour compassion maaaakes yoou weaaak!" the darkloid drawled on his laugh as a huge wall of sand extended its shadow over R Rockman.

Preparing to dodge, R Rockman found his feet stuck fast as the sand had already reached well over his knees, sticking to him like glue. He attempted to disperse the wave with a charged shot, but it proved futile as the small hole that it created was quickly filled up. All he could do was brace himself for the impact as the wave of sand crashed upon him, literally "devouring" him whole. Netto could vaguely hear his navi's concerned pleas over Desertman's muffled laughter behind the layers of sand that covered him.

Disoriented, R Rockman proceeded to claw his way to what he believed to be the surface. His lungs were starting to give out and his vision became blurry. He couldn't even cry for help if he wanted to or else he'd be getting a mouth full of sand in the process. Trying to reach for the surface once more, Netto couldn't help but swear under his breath. "D-Dang..."

Suddenly though, he could hear a familiar ringing in his ears as he felt someone grab hold of his outstretched arm. He vaguely wondered whether it was oxygen deprivation that was causing him to hallucinate before he felt a strong jerk upwards. His head popped out of the sand, finally giving him a chance to breath as he looked up at the figure that grabbed a hold of him.

"Netto-kun. Are you okay?" Rockman's voice echoed once more clearly. As Netto looked up at the blue figure before him, for a second he thought it was Rockman that had magically materialized and saved him. But on closer inspection, it was obviously that of "Ryuusei." That would explain the constant beeping he was hearing in his ears from the Noise detecting module.

"Are... Are you alright?" Ryuusei asked as well as he pulled the rest of his body out of the sand. He had just arrived in the knick of time to pull out the submerged R Rockman from a sandy grave.

Finally gathering his bearings, R Rockman stood up once more, coughing out the bits of sand that were in his throat before replying. "Y-Yeah... But... What are you doing here?"

"U-Uh... I was..." The mysterious "navi" seemed lost for words. However, before he could formulate an answer to the question he was asked so frequently, Desertman's voice once more boomed.

"Yooou! Yoou're the ooone that deleteeeed Beaastmaaaan!" The darkloid's head surfaced once more to take a good look at the navi he was sent to track. Not only did this Ryuusei character attract the attention of the mysterious man, but Shademan too had marked him as something that needed to be eliminated.

"Netto-kun, we better take care of Desertman first!" RockmanEXE reminded his NetOp of the immediate danger that they faced. As much as his curiosity wanted to be sated, they had to address the problem at hand as the student within the darkloid's grasp let out another desperate scream for help.

"Are you ready?" Ryuusei urged the brunette as he let go of his grip on his arm. As his hand drew away though, two distinct yet different messages rang in both R Rockman and Ryuusei's head.

_Data Transfer Successful. Hacked Battle Chip Data Acquired._

_Resonating Noise Found. Would you like to respond?_

Simultaneously, both Rockmans let out a sudden "Eh?" as a strangely artificial voice spoke in both their ears, followed with both their partner's responding at the same time.

"Netto-kun! We just received some battle chip data! Should we use it?" RockmanEXE inquired with a worried voice. The concept of using "hacked" data wasn't a particularly good one, but at the time they didn't have much choice.

Additionally, Subaru could hear Warrock's voice trying to catch his attention. "Ooi, Subaru! Do you want to respond or what?"

Yet again, both Rockmans simultaneously said the same thing as they yelled out a hurried "Yes!" as another wave of sand was heading their way.

The wall of sand crashed down once more on both of them, engulfing their forms once more. There was silence for but a moment before the small hill of dirt produced burst forth, scattering the particles into the air. As the light settled, two new figures were revealed.

R Rockman's armor had transformed, now sporting two gauntlets and a helmet that seemed to burn with an unquenchable flame like a torch. Despite the close proximity, he didn't feel the heat of the fire himself. In addition, his once blue armor had turned to a brighter red that was reminiscent of a certain other navi. Looking himself over. He finally noticed the change. "Th-This is... Soul Unison, Fire Soul! I didn't think we could use Double Soul while cross fused!"

"It's from the hacked data!" RockmanEXE observed in awe at the occurrence. What could have caused such a mutation in the materialization process? The navi couldn't help but take a side-glance at Ryuusei whose form had changed as well.

In deep contrast to R Rockman's own new form, Ryuusei's armor had become almost pure white. His shoulder armor looked more bulky with blue streaks across both sides. In addition, his helmet had a pillar-like shape resembling that of a crown. As the residual Noise clusters dispersed, Ryuusei opened his eyes as he whispered the name that the Meteor Server gave him. "Virgo Noise...!"

"Alright kid, you ready to go buck wild?" Warrock roared in his ears. Subaru could feel the battle-hardened warrior's excitement as he nodded in agreement.

"Yeah. Let's go!"

* * *

"Just as I thought." Yuriko smiled as she examined the screen. Needleman was kind enough to hijack one of the camera modules in the cafeteria room, giving her a clear view of what was going on in the battle. The appearance of Ryuusei didn't seem to surprise her one bit. "What Regal said was true... wherever that boy appears, Ryuusei seems to always appear as well."

"Not only that... but Rockman..." Needleman began to point out the strange occurrence with R Rockman. Soul Unison was thought to be unachievable during cross fusion, but yet again they had defied all logic and probability. "To think that Noise would even give a beneficial mutations such as this..."

Letting out a sigh, she couldn't help but shake her head already predicting the inevitable outcome of the battle. Instead, she contemplated on what the boy Subaru had to do with Ryuusei. From what she saw last time, Subaru's NetNavi didn't exactly resemble the mysterious navi all too much. In a way though, it looked as if...

"No. That's impossible." Yuriko frowned at the dead end in logic she had encountered. "Not only do the Net Saviors only have access to only two Synchro Chips... but they wouldn't give it to a random kid on the streets even if they did have extra. Ryuusei doesn't even... seem like a NetNavi to begin with other then from appearance." She pondered this string of logic for a second. To begin with, a NetNavi, or for that matter any program in general, cannot utilize Noise. Let alone, a program can't even come into contact with Noise without corrupting its data. If that were the case, what was "Ryuusei"? It was something out of this world, that's for sure. No wonder Regal had taken such an interest in him. "Needleman, let's go."

"Eh? Already?" Needeman seemed disappointed by his NetOp's desire to leave. "Don't you want to see the end of this battle? Shi shi shi!"

"It's pointless anyways. The outcome has been decided." She muttered under her breath. Yuriko couldn't help but pity how unfortunate Desertman was for following Ryuusei's trail up to this point. Sympathy wasn't a feeling that those of Nebula felt very often. Taking out another device that greatly resembled the tracker that was lent to Bubbleman previously, she noticed that something outside the dimensional field was producing a high level of Noise. "Besides, there are more important things to attend to."

From the distance, Yuriko could spot R Blues heading straight towards her, slicing the materialized viruses that stood in his way. It was only in a matter of seconds before the two of them came face to face. Immediately, the blue-eyed Net Savior pointed his blade at the Nebula agent. "You... You're the one that caused this?"

Brushing off the sand that had collected on her person, she looked straight at the boy before giving a response. Her voice dripped with sarcasm as a smirk crept on her lips. "You're lucky to have such an extraordinary Navi on your side. I have to say, I'm jealous." She gave a casual shrug and began to walk away down the halls. "But don't expect him to always be so helpful. I'll assure you that."

"Wait right there!" R Blues yelled out, causing her to stop in her tracks to take another look back at him. Her smile unnerved him, and she held a dangerous aura about her.

"I don't have the time to play with you, boy." She hissed back. Before R Blues could make a lunge for her, blue blocks of data began to materialize in between them and solidified into the familiar form of Needleman.

"Shi shi shi! Ready to play again, boy?" The darkloid snickered as he easily parried the Net Savior's swipe. Needleman pushed him back, allowing Yuriko to simply walk off into the distance out of sight.

* * *

"Hydro Dragon!" Subaru yelled out as he raised one hand high. A watery serpent began to materialize above him, and slithered through the air towards Desertman's exposed head. As if by reflex, the darkloid put his hostage between him and the serpent to protect himself. The student screamed as the attack headed straight for him, but rather then feeling the hard impact, the serpent had twisted and swerved to wrap itself around the student. Before the kid could say another word, he was floating upwards in the giant blue bubble produced. "Now!" Ryuusei signaled towards R Rockman.

"Gotcha!" The Net Savior exclaimed as he jumped to catch the student just in time as the bubble popped. Jumping away once more to safety, he set the frantic student down near the cafeteria exit to allow him an escape. Turning once more to the darkloid, R Rockman's eyes narrowed as he pointed both flame arms at Desertman. "It's time to end this!"

At that, he unleashed streams of searing flames at Desertman. Now unable to find a way to prevent the attacks, Desertman took the full brunt of the assault as he felt his body become super heated. Letting out a yell of pain, the darkloid's attempt to escape proved futile. Flame Soul was powerful as is, but with the additional power up granted from Cross Fusion, its effect was even more devastating.

A slick black surface started to surface over Desertman's body, as if solidifying it whole. The darkloid's sand composed body started to visually show the effects of the extreme temperatures, as his body seemed to form a glass like cover.

"The sand is melting...?" Subaru exclaimed in surprise as he saw R Rockman's continued onslaught. He remembered learning how glass was produced by heating sand to well over 1000 degrees Celsius, but he had never thought he would witness it first hand on this scale. "A-Amazing..."

What was left of Desertman's sifting form was now a glossy black glass that seemed to glow red from the residual effects of continuous heating. R Rockman turned to him and gave a silent nod to finish the now stationary darkloid.

Nodding back in response, he raised his hand once more. Ryuusei called upon another battle card in his arsenal as rain clouds began to form inside the cafeteria itself. "Sticky Rain!"

Upon his command, a massive downpour finished everything as the heated glass figure of Desertman cracked from his center due to the sudden heating and sudden cooling that followed. His body dematerialized along with the rest of the sand that had consumed most of the school.

Both Rockmans' let out a sigh of relief that the event was finally over. They turned to one another and looked at each other in an awkward silence, unsure of what to say next. Netto was the first to take action as he raised a friendly hand up, making a wide grin. Subaru couldn't help but smile back as they both gave each other a high-five.

* * *

Far off from the school, the abandoned warehouse at which Subaru had previously landed upon his arrival received a second peculiar visitor as another "star" fell from the sky. A small crater was formed from the impact as dust was kicked up from the landing. As the dust settled, a white haired boy stood up from the rubble. Red eyes peered through the hole in the ceiling that was created up into the blue sky. He hated to admit it, but he had missed the breath of fresh air and feeling of orientation on Earth.

"This is..." Solo muttered under his breath as he took in his surroundings. He had already reverted back to his human form upon exiting the rip in time and space that was produced from the Noise congregation after the final battle. Laplace too appeared from the shadows of the walls hurriedly.

"KzzZZzzzt!" Its muffled words seemed urgent as the strange wave composed creature pointed towards a direction. Turning, Solo noticed a stranger staring straight at him. The figure was tall and cloaked in black. Lime hair sprouting from his head down to the ground. The Murian couldn't help but give a glare bacck at the figure, noticing immediately the open hostility the stranger was emitting.

There was a long silence as the two red eyed individuals stared daggers into each other before the stranger finally spoke. "Are you the cause of this 'Noise?"

Solo's face was unreadable, as he looked the figure over once more to gauge his strength. His eyes narrowed slightly at the mentioning of Noise. "And...? What if I am?"

In response, the ground beneath them shuddered as a dimensional field formed overhead the two of them. The stranger seemed to slump over like a ragged doll and gracelessly flopped onto the floor. While confused at first, it wasn't difficult to trace the source of killing intent as Solo turned his eyes upwards to see a brown-cloaked figure floating overhead looking down at him. There were fin like protrusions coming out of the stranger's helmet along with a blue star shaped jewel at its center. His voice seemed to boom as he commanded. "That power. Give it to me."

The statement only made Solo frown at the sheer amount of stupidity of it. How ignorant of an individual to demand something so intangible from a being such as himself. Calling Laplace to his side, the shadow like creature's form changed to that of a twisted blade to which Solo wielded single handedly. He could only scoff as he simply stated his description of the character before him. "To think I would encounter a fool already."

* * *

AN: And another chapter is over! All of you guys' warm reviews helped me get back on my feet. I hope you guys are enjoying reading this fic as much as I love writing it.

As a side note, I'm currently looking for a beta that can help me on my grammar and is familiar extensively with both the EXE and RnR universe.


	6. Out of Control! Juggernauts Collide!

AN: It's been a long time, hasn't it?

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot idea.

**Chapter 6: Out of control! Juggernauts collide!**

Subaru looked up. He felt something far off, like the strike of lightning in the distance. There was a feeling of familiarity in the vibration in the air. His mind began to wander unconsciously.

_It sounded like... Noise...?_

Before he could ponder on it anymore, a familiar voice called out to him from the doorway.

"I guess I should have known you were here too, Ryuusei." R Blues stated in a matter of fact tone. He had just left a particularly nasty scuffle, but thankfully he didn't sustain any terrible injuries besides little bruises here and there. His sword with its dull glow was already drawn at his side.

Expecting to see the darkloid wreaking havoc in the area, the blue-eyed Net Savior was presented instead with both R Rockman and the "mysterious navi" smiling to themselves on their victory. Strangely enough, R Rockman seemed to be in a double soul along with Ryuusei displaying a new pale white form. "I don't suppose you'll explain what happened here?"

"U-Um... Well..." Subaru began to say as he scoped out the damages in the area. The cafeteria was a complete mess despite Desertman's sand dematerializing. Tables were turned over and lunch trays were scattered about. Like a hurricane coming in and out of the room. "This... thing was..."

"Just some darkloid again. No worries!" Netto exclaimed as he patted Ryuusei on the back, nearly knocking him flat on his face. He was obviously self-satisfied with his handiwork, typically not taking notice of the "minor" details such as the vandalism that was caused in his wake.

Enzan could only shake his head at Netto's own obliviousness. He seemed to always make a mess of wherever he battled either way. He had to tell his fellow Net Savior next time to take more precaution in not ruining public property. With another deep sigh, he took a look at the situation again. Gesturing to the double soul that was activated, Enzan's tone couldn't help but be at least a little bewildered by the anomaly. "So are you going to explain... that?"

"Ah! Well you see..." Netto looked himself over to examine the changes again. Crossing his arms, he pondered on how to explain. "Well... mid-battle... Suddenly Rockman and I just exploded with energy! Rockman was all like~~~ and I was like 'Go for it~~~!' and then ~~~"

Netto's rambling only gave the white haired boy a headache. Enzan took a side-glance at Ryuusei who was already looking around for the nearest exit. He was already hypothesizing what most likely happened, considering the things that always seemed to pop up when the other blue "NetNavi" was around. Wherever he appeared, something of this nature seems to always happen.

It was as if he were hacking reality itself.

Pushing the jabbering Netto aside, Enzan focused his attention on Ryuusei. "If it's alright, can you come down to the NetPolice Station with us? There are quite a few questions I want to ask you."

"Uh... Um... S-Sorry, but..." Subaru, or otherwise known as "Ryuusei" to seemingly everyone now, was attempting to find an appropriate time to leave. He felt a mental nudge from Warrock to not dawdle with the two of them. Before they knew it, the dimensional area was beginning to break away, returning the school to its usual normality. Both Netto and Enzan's cross fusion diffused as the eerie hue of the field disappeared. That is, except for Ryuusei.

Seeing Ryuusei's hesitancy, Enzan took the initiative to hopefully keep the mysterious "navi" from leaving. He decided to start up with some questions. There was no telling whether or not he would get the chance. "Can you at least tell us who or what you are? Why are you always helping us?"

"Ah... I..." Ryuusei began, but received a mental roar from a certain alien.

"Kid! Just leave already! You felt it, didn't you? The Noise?"

Subaru knew that Warrock was onto something. The Noise he felt earlier was the only lead since they had arrived to getting home. While he regretted to leave Enzan and Netto hanging once more, there really was no time to waste. "I... I need to go...!" Ryuusei quickly shot off, turning his back to the two.

However, before he changed his frequency, he felt a hard grip on his arm. Enzan had firmly grabbed his wrist to stop him. His blue eyes full of conviction made Subaru halt for only a moment.

"We can help you. You just have to let us!" The Net Savior tried to stall for as much time as possible. Hoping to change Ryuusei's mind on leaving.

Even Netto had chipped in as he exclaimed, "At least let us return the favor!"

Pausing only slightly, Subaru simply replied, "Sorry... I'm fine by myself..."

At that, he gave off a slight glow as he changed his frequency. His pale white Virgo form disappeared from view, leaving the two boys behind.

Enzan looked at the hand that he had used to grab a hold of the ghost-like existence of Ryuusei. He couldn't help but be disappointed, despite knowing the unlikelihood of keeping the anomaly rooted. "By himself... huh?" he muttered with a small sigh.

"He just took off again." Netto shared Enzan's feelings. They were both hoping that the third time would be the charm, and that perhaps Ryuusei would at least give them a few minutes of his time to at least clarify who and what he is. "Auugh! And here I thought we could finally talk with each other for once! If only there was some way to track him down."

"Actually..." Rockman's voice suddenly piped up from Netto's PET. "The Noise tracker that you installed last time is picking up a trail. I think it's likely because we made physical contact with him earlier."

"Enzan-sama. It would seem as if Ryuusei is headed to a location somewhere in the real world." Blues confirmed as well. Enzan quickly took out his own PET, seeing the map that his navi had brought up. A small red dot on the map indicated their target traveling at a remarkable speed towards an unknown location.

"So we're in luck!" Netto exclaimed excitedly. Finally, rather then Ryuusei appearing out of nowhere, the two of them can surprise Ryuusei instead. "Normally, he'd just appear and disappear. Let's hurry up and follow him!"

Enzan couldn't help but smirk as well at the good news. "Where is he headed, Blues?"

* * *

"Is this it...?" Subaru hesitantly put a hand up to the humming walls of the dimensional area. The walls swirled with the same ominous hue. However, the air around it seemed to shiver with an electrical charge, as if two great forces were clashing within.

"Careful, kid." Warrock growled under his breath. His animalistic instincts sensed danger behind the walls. "There's definitely something beyond here. Noise being only one thing to worry about."

"It may be a clue to getting back home." Subaru eyes looked determined as he prepared to pass through the barrier. It was a simple matter to change one's frequency to get past the dimensional area, but he still felt a small jolting shock upon getting through. "It's also the first lead we've had since coming here. We can't back down now."

"Just watch your back kid."

"Don't worry." Subaru reassured his companion. He felt tense as well for whatever lied ahead, but this was no time to have second thoughts. "Let's go Warrock."

* * *

A saw-like blade of dark energy whirled passed Burai as he swiftly darted to the left. Then back in center phasing in and out of normal frequency he made the distance between him and his opponent. As he brought down Laplace, Forte moved to parry it with a dark blade of his own. They locked blades, testing each other's physical might. Both sides showed signs of obvious struggle to overpower the other.

"Impressive... for a human." Forte said with slight disdain. It was the first words the two normally solemnly quiet individuals exchanged since they first clashed. As much as he hated to admit it, the human before him was not like the other pathetic trash of the human world he had encountered.

Breaking off from their stalemate, Burai landed back down upon the ground while Forte took the high ground of the building's rooftop. "Tell me boy... Are you truly human? Or are you a navi posing as one?" Solo had appeared human upon his initial appearance, but upon his transformation he resembled that of a navi. However, Forte didn't sense any navi behind the boy's power.

Solo stared up at Forte. With the wicked blade of Laplace leveled towards the stranger, he refused to let down his guard. There was an unnerving silence between these two forces until he finally replied. "I have no interest in your curiosity. Leave and I'll let you live."

The dark NetNavi sneered at the prospect of himself retreating from battle. The human's cockiness angered him and his patience was running dry. "Answer me this then... are you 'Ryuusei'?"

"Ryuusei?" Burai asked questioningly. Then in a mocking sneer of his own, he answered, "And what if I am? I have no business with you."

The two of them stared daggers once more into each other, both of them gripping their blades, Laplace in Burai's and a blade of dark energy in Forte's. As they both moved to rush each other once more, they both stopped upon hearing a loud crackle from the dimensional area barrier. Something had forcibly made its way into the area.

Taking advantage of the distraction, Burai took this as a chance for him to retreat. While his Murian blood disliked running from battle, his body was still weary from his travel through dimensions. Disengaging from his EM-wave form to conserve energy, Solo quickly darted into one of the abandoned warehouse buildings. Laplace reverted back to its ethereal form and traveled in the shadows behind him.

Forte quickly turned back to Solo, making a quick rush for him at ground level. He wasn't about to let his sought out prey just leave without a complete fight to the death. The navi crashed his way into the building from the ceiling, adding to the already piled up rubble within.

As he caught glimpse of Solo's form in the darkness of the building, he saw the human boy dart further into the warehouse.

"Why do you run, Ryuusei?" Forte growled under his breath. His thirst for that strange power burned as he gave chase. "Don't tell me you're afraid...?"

As he turned the corner, he saw the boy's left hand give off a strange glow as Solo promptly pulled out a large broadsword from the dark light of his hand to block Forte's incoming attack. "As if I'd be afraid." Solo retorted back, his weariness from the lengthy travel through the Noise Wave becoming more apparent.

"You really aren't a regular human, are you?" Forte smirked as he materialized another dark arm blade in his other hand. Taking Solo by surprise, he caught the boy square in the side with the second blade. While his Mu Rejection Barrier had blocked the attack from slicing him in two, the sheer force had knocked him aside and into the wall. "But nevertheless, your end will still be the same."

Solo grunted in pain as he tried to move. Judging by the sharp pain upon standing, he most likely broke a couple bones from the impact. Forte, knowing his prey was incapacitated, reached a hand to try analyzing and then devouring the anomaly's abilities.

However, before the solo NetNavi could satisfy his thirst for new power, he turned quickly to dodge an incoming cannon shot that zoomed past him from the doorway. Both Solo and Forte's eyes widened slightly in surprise as a familiar blue figure rushed forward with cyber blade in hand.

"Enzan! Over here!" R Rockman shouted out as he made to slash at the black fin-headed navi with a newly materialized long sword. Forte effortlessly blocked the attack with one of his dark arm blades. As he moved to retaliate, he caught sight of R Blues making his way towards him as well.

"Insignificant flies...!" Forte growled as he pushed R Rockman aside with sheer force. Flying discs of Hell's Rolling were sent straight towards R Blues before he could even close the distance. With the two new nuisances briefly taken care of, Forte turned towards where the incapacitated Solo was. To the solo navi's annoyance, the boy was gone.

* * *

"We were lucky that Laplace was able to lead us to you in time." Subaru sighed in relief. During the commotion that both Netto and Enzan caused, he had changed his frequency to phase through the walls and get Solo out to safety. Despite Solo's haughty disposition towards being rescued, Subaru couldn't help but be happy to see a familiar face after such a long time away from home.

Solo scoffed as he muttered. "I didn't ask nor needed to be saved, Rockman."

"Ooy! You got some attitude on you after we saved your hide." Warrock roared out. Though only Subaru could hear the AMian's tirade due to the restrictions of the PET when wave-changed.

"It's alright, Warrock. That's just how Solo is." Subaru tried to reason with his partner's anger.

"KzZZzzzzzzZzt!" Laplace inaudible voice buzzed out. As if in understanding, Solo nodded in agreement.

"Your right. This isn't the time or place to talk." Solo tried to move once more, but crumpled under his wounds. Not only was he mentally and physically weary from traveling through the Noise Wave, but also the fierce battle on top of it all tired his body tremendously. "Damn it! That damned Wizard getting in my way...!"

"You're injured...!" Subaru reached to steady him against a neighboring wall despite the boy's protests. "Wait here, I need to go help Netto and Enzan take out that—"

"Don't tell me you're involving yourself with the people here as well." Solo stopped him from leaving with a firm grip of his hand. His voice was chillingly cold, but Subaru could tell the seething aggravation in his voice. "You won't see any of these people again. What good will your weak bonds do for you here?"

Subaru paused at Solo's words. He knew it himself. From the moment he met Netto and the others, he knew that their meeting was only temporary. Eventually he would find a way to leave and never see any of them again. It was because of this that he tried to remain distant. He didn't want to get too involved or too attached to the people he met in this new world.

But without his knowledge and despite his conscious avoidance, Subaru had already come to acknowledge them all as his friends.

He broke off Solo's grip. "I know that..." Subaru turned his back towards the other boy. The more he thought about it, the more he came to realize that he had been acting exactly how he used to before he met Warrock. "I know that I'll eventually not see any of them again. But that doesn't make the bonds I make with them any weaker!"

Solo swore under his breath. Just the talk of friendships made him sick. However, in his current state, he could do little but simply glare at his rival's back. "I came here only to get what belongs to me, Rockman. Just remember, I will be the one who will destroy you in the end."

Subaru couldn't help but smile slightly despite the threat. He understood that was just Solo's awkward way of expressing worry. Seeing a familiar face, despite hostile, gave him the hope he had needed in finding a way back home.

"Don't worry. I'll be back." Rockman, or rather "Ryuusei" in this world, changed his frequency to move out of sight and back to the battlefield where his new friends fought. It took less then a second for him to disappear from Solo's view.

"RzzzZzzzZZzzzzzTT..." Laplace appeared alongside Solo's side. It looked almost ashamed as if knowing its master's anger for its actions.

"Quiet. I never asked you to go out and find help." Solo grunted back. "Let alone getting Rockman... I didn't need any help to begin with."

"GrzzzZzzzt..." the EM-Wave shook its head at the proposition, then turned its head upwards into the dimensional field blocked sky.

"You're right." Solo looked up as well. "It's strange... why is the Noise level increasing in a place like this? Could it be from our landing... or maybe..."

He looked calmly towards the direction that the EM Rockman had disappeared to. His eyes narrowed as if in knowing what was to come.

"Kuh... that fool."

* * *

"Netto! Are you alright?" Enzan shouted out as he saw the brunette go flying backwards and through the wall. The battle had moved back to outside from what remained of the abandoned warehouse. The walls were barely standing, and the inside was filled with rubble from their battle.

"I'm fine!" Netto yelled back as he pulled himself together. Despite the double team, the two Net Saviors could do little to fend off Forte's onslaught. They were running out of resources as their library of chips was already running dry. "Forte! What are you doing here in the human world?!"

The dark navi floated midair, staring down at the two of them. From his vantage point, he searched the area for the white haired boy he had fought, clearly ignoring R Rockman's question. He was frustrated at how close he had been, and how easily he had escaped due to the two Net Savior's meddling.

"So be it..." he muttered as he turned his red eyes towards R Blues. "You will be the first." He made a dive for the sword wielding Net Savior. Enzan could feel the bloodthirstiness from the navi as Blues yelled out words of alarm in his head to quickly dodge.

While R Blues raised his sword to block Forte's charge, the force of impact knocked him aside as he skid across the ground before finally hitting the wall of the dimensional barrier. The shock of the impact disengaged his Cross Fusion as electric currents sparked through his body. His PET along with the ejected Syncro chip fell to his side.

"Enzan-sama! Enzan-sama!" Blues yelled out in worry from the PET, but Enzan was barely conscious to register his navi's voice.

"Enzan!" R Rockman shouted out to confirm his friend's safety. However he had little time to worry before Forte's attention was focused on him.

"You're next... boy." Forte looked at him with his cold red eyes. "You think a human borrowing the power of a navi can stand up to me? It's your dependence on each other that makes you both weak."

R Rockman stood his ground. Though whether it was through courage or fear, he aimed his standard Rock Buster at Forte and prepared to fire.

"Too slow." The red-eyed navi stated as he suddenly appeared at R Rockman's left before preparing to hurl a Darkness Overload point blank. "And too weak...!"

"Netto-kun!" Rockman chimed in Netto's ear in warning, but he would be too slow to switch his aim now to counter. As he saw the dark energy coming straight for him, a black flash came between him and the blast as a strange circular barrier effortlessly dispersed the attack.

"Y-You're...!" Forte looked at the seemingly familiar figure with surprise. He had thought it was the red-eyed boy that had come back, but there were noticeable differences along with the striking similarity.

While it took Netto a brief moment to recognize him, he exclaimed in surprise. "Ryuusei!"

It seemed as if Ryuusei had yet again undergone some sort of style change as he sported a much darker color scheme along with a blue four-pointed visor. "Noise Change... Burai."

Wordlessly, he formed a blade in his hand to take full advantage of the form's prowess with swords. With his Mu shield down temporarily, he had to be a bit more careful in approaching.

"So you're Ryuusei..." Forte looked the new opponent over. He sensed something a bit different from this one compared to the white haired boy from earlier. They both carried that same unknown energy, but the one standing before him seemed to carry it in a much denser quality. He could almost hear the buzzing of Noise in his ears as he approached.

The black navi seemed to shiver in anticipation. It had been a while that anything came close to challenging him. "Don't disappoint me."

At that, Forte zoomed towards Ryuusei, hurling the spinning saws of Hell's Rolling forward. As Ryuusei dodged the incoming blades, he made sure to take note of the navi charging for him. As Forte approached closer with a dark blade in hand, rather then making impact, the navi phased right through his opponent due to the sudden frequency change. Catching Forte by surprise, Ryuusei brought down a cyber blade from the back. But with super human reflexes, Forte had already moved to parry the blow.

"The same trick that other boy used." Forte grimaced at the strangely ghost like power. Preparing another Darkness Overload, he made to blow his adversary to smithereens. "The same thing won't fool me again."

The two dark warriors clashed once more, but as the battle drew on, it became increasingly obvious on who held the upper hand. Subaru understood why Burai had so much trouble with this opponent. Even with the Noise Change, Forte proved more then capable of handling anything that he threw at him.

"This guy is no joke!" Warrock commented on their opponent with unease. "And he isn't about to give us any room for a breather! Watch it, kid!"

Before he could respond, Subaru felt a hard straight kick in his gut that the Mu barrier failed to block. The attack sent him flying, hitting hard against the ground and skidding until his back hit the thick walls that housed the broken down machinery.

"Ooy! Subaru!" The AMian yelled out in concern. He cursed his uselessness. If only they still had the Hunter VG, then he could materialize outside even while fused. "Get up, kid! He's heading straight for us!"

However despite his comrade's pleas, Subaru was slipping into unconsciousness. He heard a buzzing in his ear. And the sound only kept increasing until it drowned out all else. The same pulsing headache started to form again.

"Pathetic." Forte looked at him with deep scorn. "I was expecting more out of this Ryuusei."

The navi made a slow approach, knowing the end of the battle was near. He was about to claim his reward after the long search.

"Not so fast!" A voice yelled out to the side. Several buster shots came zooming towards Forte, but they were swatted away like nothing. Forte glanced over to see R Rockman pointing his buster at him. "Don't lay a hand on him!"

However despite R Rockman's threats, Forte continued his approach towards the fallen Ryuusei. He wasn't about to be distracted from his prize a second time. "I'll finish you later, Rockman."

Though as Forte drew closer, he noticed the buzzing in his ears getting louder. By instinct, he back stepped a bit to create some distance from the anomaly. His eyes narrowed as he noticed a change in the environment around Ryuusei. Clumps of condensed noise were starting to form in the air. Gone unnoticed during their battle, the surrounding Noise had grown to become dense enough to reach a crimson color. This was the inevitable result from not only his battle with the white haired boy from before, but also with Ryuusei.

_Noise Levels Sufficient..._

The soft mechanical voice buzzed in Subaru's ears, penetrating his unconsciousness. He slowly got up from his slump, his head still low. Strained to hear the voice again through the white noise and terrible headache, he realized just what was happening.

_Initializing Black Ace Program..._

Taking advantage of Forte's sudden hesitancy, Ryuusei made a break for it as he phased through the wall behind him. He wanted to get as far away from Netto as possible, not wanting him to get caught up in the change that was manifesting within him and the inevitable battle.

Cursing to himself for his unnecessary caution, Forte gave chase. He didn't want to lose sight of him all for him to get away like Solo had earlier. If Ryuusei somehow managed to reach past the Dimensional Barrier he had set up, it would prove difficult for Forte to follow.

"Wait! Get back here Forte!" R Rockman followed close behind to stop him.

"Netto-kun! It's dangerous!" Rockman tried to dissuade his NetOp. The brunette was already quite worse for wear, but he ignored his NetNavi's concern. "Something's going on with Ryuusei! The Noise level here has increased to an immeasurable level!"

"That's all the more reason for us to follow!" Netto said with conviction. "It's time for us to be the ones to help Ryuusei!"

* * *

"I... I have to get away...!" Subaru thought to himself. He had a bad feeling about this. Last time, he could barely even remember what had happened. And judging from what he heard from Netto about Black Ace, he didn't want to leave it to chance on what he might do in that state. Even Warrock couldn't help, as the Noise seemed to interfere with their communication with one another. "Warrock... where are you...?"

As he approached the humming wall of the Dimensional Area, Subaru caught sight of a collapsed Enzan that was only just regaining conscious. As the Net Savior's blue eyes fell upon him, he almost didn't recognize the familiar "Ryuusei" due to the Noise Change.

"R... Ryuusei...?" Enzan groggily said as he tried to straighten himself up. "What are you doing here...?"

Crashing could be heard from behind. Subaru could almost feel the murderous intent of the approaching dark solo navi drawing closer.

_Accessing Meteor Server..._

"A-Auuuuugh..." The poor boy moaned as the Noise in the air quivered. Subaru looked straight at the Net Savior as his vision began to fade over to a crimson color as well. "E-Enzan... you have to... get out of here...!"

Upon hearing his own name from the strange "navi", Enzan's once foggy mind cleared. He recognized the voice now. It finally dawned on him "Ryuusei's" true identity.

"Can it be... are you...?" Enzan began to ask, but stopped when he noticed that the other boy could no longer hear him.

"Finalize..." Subaru finally uttered in a low tone. And on signal, the Noise in the air began to congregate around him, surrounding him in a red sphere completely composed of Crimson. Enzan could do nothing but look in awe. He had only seen the process happen in video, but seeing it first hand was another experience altogether.

The air was static until finally the surface of the shell cracked. As it burst open, an ear-piercing shriek of dispersed Noise filled the Net Savior's ears, prompting him to try and block it out with his hands. As the light dimmed, he finally saw the dark armored figure with his crimson wings outspread. It looked as if it was discharging even more of the crimson Noise into the air.

"That's... Black Ace...?" Enzan looked straight at what was once "Ryuusei". He made to reach for his PET and Syncro Chip, but the slight movement immediately drew the attention of the winged warrior.

Those red eyes staring down at him; they were cold and emotionless. No, scratch that. Calculating is what probably described them best. He could barely meet the gaze halfway as sweat began to trickle down along the side of his face. Was this the same "Ryuusei" that he had met mere hours ago? Thoughts circled in his mind, but no words came out of his mouth.

After a brief moment of silence, the mysterious "navi" finally spoke. "Are you my enemy?" Black Ace's voice still resembled Ryuusei's, but seemed darker in tone. The sudden question directed at him surprised the Net Savior.

He wanted to say "no", but he just couldn't get it out while faced with the intimidating figure before him.

"So... you finally reveal yourself." Forte had finally caught up, immediately spotting the red winged warrior of rumor. Not to say he couldn't hide the excitement in his voice. He was glad that Ryuusei chose not to run away. A challenge of power was rare for him. It is something worthy of relishing. The spoils of war would be all the sweeter the harder it is to get it. "I will be the one to devour your power whole."

Black Ace shifted his gaze to the cloaked navi as if gauging the potential threat level he posed. Information rushed into his head, pouring in battle data at an alarming rate. The enemy at the moment was clear to him as Forte made a dive for him.

With wings outspread, the wing verniers burst to life as it discharged high density Noise, propelling Black Ace at super speeds. The sudden acceleration had caught Forte off guard as swift winds kicked up before he felt a heavy kick at his side.

"Hurricane Kick...!" Black Ace stated as he sent Forte flying downwards. Though a crater was left upon impact, the navi seemed unphased. In fact, he appeared to be grinning.

"Interesting...!" Forte looked up to see what the strange anomaly was going to throw at him next. Charging his next attack, the navi sent several discs of Hell's Rolling up towards the red-winged warrior.

In response, Black Ace raised both arms forward as he charged up his own attack. "Meteorite Barrage..."

A bright white light burst forth from his hands as several blue-white meteors came raining down to the ground. Some of the meteors collided with the spinning discs of dark energy, but many other stray ones fell to the ground.

"Enzan-sama!" Blues warned from the PET, snapping the boy out of his bewilderedness. He moved out of the way of the blast radius of one of the falling meteors, but couldn't hope to avoid all of them.

In the nick of time, a meteor that was heading straight for him was blown to bits as R Rockman rounded the corner. With his buster raised, he knocked some of the stray meteors that were raining down on them out of the sky. "Enzan, are you alright?"

"Netto...! Black Ace, he's—" Enzan tried to tell his comrade, but was cut off upon hearing the ensuing battle.

Forte had locked hands with Black Ace as both fought mid air. Each was pushing against the other to gain dominance of the air. However when it came to aerial combat, Black Ace appeared to be at an advantage. Crimson wings burst once more to life as it discharged high density Noise to create a forward thrust. Forte began to weaken, his body unable to adapt to the corrupting nature of Noise itself. As the navi faltered, Black Ace took this moment to act.

"Wing Blade!" In a flash, Black Ace zoomed past Forte, his bladed wings slashing the navi deeply.

Forte grunted in pain. Not only from the attack that Black Ace had dealt, but also from the heavy amounts of Noise that had began eating away at him. He hated to admit it, but it was in his best interest to retreat and recuperate. Survival was something ingrained to be always his top priority, as much as it hurt his pride.

"Just you wait... Ryuusei." Forte huffed as he gripped his wound. He was already mid logout before finally leaving his last words floating in the air. "I'll be back... to devour you whole!"

Black Ace regarded the lingering threat of the navi with silence. The Dimensional Barrier started to break away from Forte's disappearance, but Black Ace still remained stalwart in the sky. Not only did the dark armored EM-wave being remained materialized, but also the Noise fragments in their surroundings had failed to disappear as well.

"Is it over?" Netto asked as his Cross Fusion faded upon the area's return to normality. He turned to his other fellow Net Savior who was still staring dead straight at Black Ace in the sky. Enzan was silently analyzing the situation. He had a terrible feeling ever since the Dimensional Barrier fell.

"Netto-kun! Bad news!" Rockman called out from the boy's PET.

"Enzan-sama. The surrounding Noise is escaping into the surrounding area." Blues confirmed Rockman's report with urgency. "If something isn't done soon—"

"The electronics in the area—" Before both of the poor NetNavis could finish their message, the PET's screen started to fade over to white noise.

"Rockman? Rockman?!" Netto yelled into his PET. Panic was plastered over his face. "Ooy! Rockman! Are you still there?!"

"Report Blues!" Enzan tried to call out, but all he received was the same static. However, the two of them needed no report to realize what was happening as the surrounding city block lights began to blink on and off while sparking with electricity. Small explosions could be heard as every electronic in a two block radius had started to malfunction. Worst of all, the wave of Noise looked to be spreading. If something wasn't done soon, the police station or even worse the city's hospitals may be in danger.

Looking up once more, Enzan could already tell what the problem was. Despite the battle being over, Black Ace was still discharging Noise from the wing verniers on his back. With the Dimensional Area no longer containing the high amount of Noise, the excess was escaping out into the atmosphere to the surrounding city blocks.

"We have to do something!" Netto clenched his teeth. However not only could he not Cross Fuse, but he couldn't even get into contact with Rockman with the Noise jamming his PET. "Enzan! What should we—?"

"Wait! Just let me think...!" Enzan tried to search his mind for a solution. They couldn't contact HQ about the impending danger because of the jamming, and by the time they reached a working phone it'd be too late.

As a last ditch effort, Enzan yelled out the identity behind Black Ace to call him to reason. The only thing they could do was hope. "Subaru! Stop! You're putting other people in danger!"

"Eh?" Netto snapped his neck back at Black Ace, clearly taken by surprise. "You mean... that's Subaru?!"

Before Enzan could confirm this fact to Netto, The two of them saw another black flash zoom towards the winged warrior. For a second, the two of them thought that Forte had reappeared somehow into the real world, but the figure was clearly different.

The curved blade of Laplace swung downward, knocking the stationary Black Ace down to the ground. However, whether it was the process of Finalization that seemed to take away his response to pain, Black Ace remained calm and unphased from the sudden attack. His eyes stared up to meet his next opponent. "Are you... my enemy as well?" He stated solemnly, as Subaru tried to search his mind for the answer. For what reason was he fighting now? Nothing seemed to register with him clearly, and his mind was lost in the haze.

Burai gave no time to respond as he threw his blade down towards the disoriented warrior. Black Ace made no motion to dodge, but instead caught the spinning blade with one hand. The surprise however was when Laplace once more reverted back to its ethereal form, holding Black Ace still for the moment that Burai needed.

It didn't take a second for Burai to take his chance to calm the rampaging Subaru. "Rockman!" the white haired boy yelled out as he grabbed hold of him. Using his own attuned nature to Noise, Burai began to drain out the excess Noise that Subaru was keeping within. The effects were clear as the crimson light from his wings began to die down.

"Subaru! Can you hear me?!" Warrock's voice was finally coming through. The static was starting to fade, finally letting the AMian get contact with the boy. "Hey kid, snap out of it! Pull yourself together!"

"War...rock? What was I...?" Subaru said finally, his conscious finally returning to him. However it was short lived as he unceremoniously fell over Burai's shoulders, his transformation finally disengaged.

"What a fool..." Burai muttered as he disengaged his own EM-Wave form. "To think that Rockman would attune to the core itself..."

"GrzzzZzzzzt...?" Laplace floated over the boy, poking the unconscious Subaru as if testing if the brunette was alive.

"Hey! Get your fingers off of'em!" Warrock growled as he materialized outside of the PET to shoo off the Murian Wizard.

"You." Solo glared up at the AMian as he adjusted Subaru over his shoulder. "Aren't you supposed to keep the Noise under control for him?"

"Kuh! I don't need to hear that from you." Warrock returned the stare. But he couldn't be too upset with Solo after he had gone to the pains of calming Black Ace down. "It's not as easy as it looks... at least with that level of—"

"Hey, boy." A voice called out to Solo. It was a woman's voice, slick and cold. From the shadows a brunette woman with a trench coat and shades hiding her eyes came out into the dim light of the moon. "Were you the one that calmed Black Ace down? That's pretty impressive." Yuriko looked the white haired child over, seeing the familiar brunette slung over his shoulders. "With whom were you talking to earlier?"

Solo immediately detested the woman. She had that same manipulative sounding voice of that woman Vega. He said nothing, but watched carefully on what her next move would be. She was slowly approaching him with an unfamiliar device in hand.

However, he needed to take no action before the woman turned to hear two others coming their way. Not wanting to be discovered, she began to slink back into the shadows. "Tell the boy that we'll be in touch..." were her last words as she disappeared from sight. The smirk playing on her face was the last thing he saw

"They're over here!" Netto called out to Enzan as he headed towards where the conclusion of the battle had taken place. He spotted the mysterious white haired boy carefully place Subaru on the ground, slumped against a canister. There was little left of the old factory and warehouses. The falling meteors had almost leveled the area. "Hey, who are-?" Netto began to inquire about the identity of the boy, but Enzan had caught up to ask the question himself.

"Who are you?" the blue eyed Net Savior asked, carefully keeping an eye on the stranger. "Do you know Subaru?"

Rather then answer, Solo decided that he was the one to ask the questions. He had a cold demeanor that gave both boys the same feeling. He reminded them of Forte in a small way. "With what business do you have with Rockman?"

Netto raised an eyebrow, clearly confused by the simple question. "Rockman?"

"Him." Solo gestured over to the fallen Subaru.

There was a hanging silence due to the misunderstanding. There was a lot that needed explanation.

* * *

AN: I guess I should give a longer Author's Note after my very long absence. I've revived this long thought dead story, and I'm a bit worried on whether I'm able to still capture the same writing style that I've always used. As usual, I have no beta, so please forgive any grammatical or spelling errors you see. It's been quite a long time since I've written!

I laugh to myself as I wonder. After my very long absence, does anyone even read (or remember) this old fic? But to all those who have waited, I'm sorry for the wait! And to all you new readers, I hope you enjoyed discovering this old story!

You may be seeing some updates in the near future. Albeit, I think from now on I'm going to try and make chapters shorter.

I won't make any promises, but I hope all of you will stay tune to what happens next!

-A Z Euph


	7. Fear of the Unknown!

AN: Were you all worried it would take me 2 years to update again?

Disclaimer: I own none of the characters nor the universe.

**Chapter 7: Fear of the Unknown!**

Subaru could see it within the darkness. The recognizably dim yet pulsing red light, followed by the terrible beastly roar which shook every fiber in his body. He stood face to face with the Crimson Dragon, the very core of Meteor G brought to life. Warrock was by his side, he thought. He could handle it. He had to in order to save his world from peril.

It was not only till the dragon came near enough, poised to attack, that Subaru realized that Warrock _wasn't_ with him. He was just Subaru. Not Rockman, but just Hoshikawa Subaru.

Seeing the deadly claws come down upon him, Subaru made a quick retreat. He started running, turning his back towards the beast. However, it was all a futile effort. No matter how much he ran, he couldn't seem to create any substantial distance between him and the beast. He ran and ran, but soon he became enveloped into the red light of the core. Absorbed into the Crimson Dragon itself, just like his dad.

"Dad..." Subaru thought as he felt himself become weightless. It was as if he was floating in zero gravity. "I wonder... if he's alright. I wonder if everyone back on earth... is alright..." He felt a deep sense of homesickness as he closed his eyes.

When he opened them again however, he realized something amiss. The red light that he had been enveloped in had disappeared. Looking at his hands, he saw the familiar black armor. In his ears, he heard the familiar humming of the wing verniers on his back. To his horror, he saw his vision become crimson once again as he lost himself.

It was then that Subaru bolted up in a cold sweat, awake from the horrible nightmare. He looked at his hands to confirm that it was just a dream. He was Hoshikawa Subaru. Not Black Ace.

"About time you woke up, kid. You don't look too good. Bad dream?" The voice was immediately recognizable. Warrock was at Subaru's bedside. Despite the battle-hardened exterior that Warrock wore, it was obvious that the alien had been concerned the whole time. "You had me worried kid. Our communication just broke off again."

"Warrock... what was I...?" Subaru looked down. He was sitting in an unfamiliar cot. Then taking a look around he realized there was a wall of metal bars that blocked his escape. The room looked literally like a jail cell. "What...?"

"Those two kids took you here. The 'Net Police' station or something." Warrock reared his head over to the jail bars. He crossed his arms and huffed a bit, "Not like these bars could really hold us anyways."

"Where's Enzan and Netto?" Subaru asked as he pushed the covers off. He had so many questions ever since he woke up, but his main concern was filling in the gaps of his memory. "What happened? Are they alright?"

"Worrying about others before yourself again, Rockman?" An all too familiar voice said from the opposite side of the cell. Solo was leaning against the far wall, his arms crossed. He didn't look amused. "How very typical."

"Solo..." Subaru met the other boy's stare. Before he completely blacked out, he remembered Solo was the one that had brought him back to normal. Looking at his hand however, Subaru noticed something peculiar. "Are... you eating?"

True enough, Solo was holding a half unwrapped burger in one hand. From the logo on the wrapper, it was from WacDonald.

"Sh-Shut up." Solo turned away. He was just about to have eaten until Subaru had woken up. When one of the adults had given it to him, he was about to refuse. But after the long travel through space and time, the boy was absolutely starving. And in an unfamiliar world, he had to take what he could.

"GrrzzZZzzzzzZzzzt!" Laplace looked as if it was laughing as it floated at Solo's side.

"Shut up, Laplace." Solo retorted, now hesitant to take a bit out of his meal. But as human as he is, it took all his will power to resist with his stomach growling incessantly.

Subaru couldn't help but laugh a little to himself, despite the glares he was receiving from the serious boy. It sort of reminded of him of the time Solo had accidentally called him about his Burger Quest saved data.

"Solo, how did you get here?" Subaru finally asked. He had a thousand questions to ask. "What happened to Meteor G? Is the Earth...?"

Solo was silent. He wasn't a person of many words, nor was he used to being asked so many questions all at once. "You haven't realized it yourself. Have you?"

"Realized what?" Subaru was puzzled at first, but he had a slight suspicion on what Solo was implying. He had a feeling for the longest of time, ever since he had come to this era. The voice he kept hearing, the fact that Noise was present despite the seeming lack of a source. "Meteor G... it's..."

"You. Rockman." Solo stated flatly. "You've attuned to the very core of Meteor G."

"But that's impossible!" A surprised Warrock burst out. The concept seemed completely impossible to the AMian. "How could we have...?" Pausing once more, Warrock recalled once more what had happened during the final battle.

"You ripped Daigo Hoshikawa from the core of Meteor G. Him being it's sole source of power." Solo then looked straight at Subaru. He knew that the brunette was already following the train of logic. "And _what_ did you do?"

"I... connected to the Meteor Server through 'Finalization'..." Subaru looked thoughtful as he tried to connect the pieces of information. "Finalization... and into 'Black Ace'." He remembered Dread Joker and Acid Ace. Both performed the same synchronization with the Meteor Server.

"Connected? Heh... I'd say you did more then just _connect_." Solo scoffed. He looked at the burger in his hand again for a moment before finally taking a bite of it. Embarrassing or not, he was hungry.

"You're right..." Subaru finally stood from his bedside. "We didn't just connect to the Meteor Server." It was at this point that Subaru was quite unsure. Everything went black, and before he knew it, he had come to this era. He tried to search for an answer in his memory, but only came up with blanks. "After we destroyed the Crimson Dragon... then—"

"You _didn't_ destroy the core." Solo interrupted. He was already half done with his meal at this point. "You. Rockman. You've absorbed the core itself. You hold the key to controlling Meteor G itself."

"But how could that be possible?" Warrock folded his arms. It seemed crazy for them to not notice that something so massive could be stored within their bodies.

"It's not impossible..." Solo stated simply. "Not with what Sirius gave you. The Mu Metal I came here to get from you."

Both Subaru and Warrock were silent as they took in the information. It would explain why he had heard the voice from the Meteor Server. However, to think something so massive was so close was hard to take in.

"Don't get any ideas. I didn't come here to save you." Solo reaffirmed his cold attitude. Not wanting to be associated with coming here on good intentions. "I'm only here to retrieve what is mine. That's it."

There was a small silence, but nevertheless, Subaru smiled to the other boy. "Thanks... Solo."

Solo immediately looked away with a "hmph", and continued to eat.

Subaru still had so many questions to ask, but for the time being, he thought he'd let the other boy finish. It was then that he'd realize that his own stomach was growling as well. He walked over to the jail bars and felt the cool metal.

"So... Why are we in a jail cell, anyways?"

* * *

"It's because they're a menace!" The officer said as he slammed his fist on the table. His cheeks were a rosy red as the blood rushed to his head. He was clearly either mad with rage, or frustrated with the turn of events. "You saw what happened out there. Things could have turned out a heck of a lot worse!"

"But it didn't! We already told you what happened!" Netto argued back to the adult Net Savior. The man's seniority didn't affect Netto's already informal tone. "It wasn't his fault! Forte was the one that attacked!"

"I'm not talking about that, you brat! Look at the surrounding city block from where the Dimensional Area was! Massive virus outbreaks, malfunctioning of every electronic appliance—!"

"That's enough. Officer Koyama. Stand down."

Enzan folded his arms. He hated to admit it, but the officer was right. Nothing but rubble was left from where the old warehouse and factory once stood. Partially due to their battle, but majorly as a result of the meteors conjured from Black Ace. The potential damage that he posed was far greater then anyone had predicted.

"That boy could've done a heck of a lot more damage if he'd continue. Just because we don't know a blasted thing about him, you're letting him off easy?!"

"We don't understand a lot of things about 'Ryuusei' as of now." Dr. Hikari tried to reason with the officer in a logical sense. "He's just a child. The least we can do is hear him out."

Officer Koyama slumped back into his chair, but his expression still hadn't changed. He knew that the other Net Savers and colleagues carried the similar uneasiness. It was their opinions in how to approach the problem that differed from one another. Many couldn't even decide on _what_ exactly they could do. 'Ryuusei' wasn't a program they could simply delete. He was to their knowledge a human boy.

"I doubt that this event is going to go ignored by the Net Terrorists... nor the darkloids." Enzan looked towards Meijin who had organized the meeting to talk about their future actions. He didn't want to bring it up, but a very suspicious object was found "Ryuusei's" person. From his pocket, he procured the all too familiar Dark Chip. "I found this on Subaru... when he was brought in."

"So he's been in contact with the darkloids?" Netto looked at Enzan with surprise, not knowing that his fellow Net Saver had searched Subaru's belongings.

"We can't say for sure..." Enzan sighed. "But what we can say is that Nebula has their eyes on him. And that their plans are far from being good."

The conversation came to a standstill. They couldn't exactly "delete" Ryuusei. However, they couldn't exactly restrain him either. It fell under a matter of trust. But few of the veteran Net Savers would place such high trust on a complete stranger. And with all the mystery surrounding Subaru, Enzan too began to question Ryuusei's loyalty. He wondered whether or not Subaru even trusted them to begin with.

"I believe in Subaru." Netto said firmly, breaking the silence. He had stood up, looking at every official in the room to gauge their reaction. Enzan almost gawked at the brunette's bravery, but realized that this was something he should have expected from his hot-blooded comrade. "Enzan, you're with me, right? Ryuusei—No. I mean, Subaru. He isn't a bad guy."

Enzan looked at him thoughtfully. He admired Netto for his willingness to trust. And in all honesty, he believed that it was this willingness that made him strong. But at the same time, it's this same naivety that he thought foolish and immature.

"Subaru isn't a bad guy at all." He finally replied, tightening his grip on the dark chip. "But there are definitely things that he's hiding from us."

"So you do—"

"But." Enzan interrupted. "That doesn't mean we can trust him..."

* * *

"Do you fear it?"

"Huh?" Subaru looked over at Solo, surprised by his sudden question. Despite the vagueness, Subaru was already certain on what Solo was referring to.

"You fear the power of Meteor G. And of the so called 'Black Ace'." He stated simply. "It's that very power that brought you here."

"So you're saying that it's the same power that can bring us back." Warrock surmised the conclusion that Solo was trying to draw out. They already had the key to getting back home the whole time. However, the true problem wasn't in where to obtain this "key", but rather in how to use it.

"Meteor G ... everything that Joker wanted to control..." Subaru trailed off, lost in his own thoughts and worries. He didn't want to think about it, but what he had in his control was something that could very easily put to ruin human civilization, as he knew it. Joker had come very close to doing just that when he hijacked the core of Meteor G. And now Subaru held that very same power. The weight of the responsibility was hard to carry. "I just... don't want to end up hurting anyone. If I lose control... Or if..."

"Since when did you become so weak?" Solo sneered, disgusted by the boy's blubbering. It was not like his rival to lack in conviction, to be so insecure. "What are you afraid of?"

Subaru was silent as he thought hard about this question. He remembered his dream. What was it that he feared? The answer was obvious.

He feared himself. He feared what he was capable of.

And most of all, he feared hurting others around him.

However none of these answers would be satisfactory to Solo. And Subaru knew this well.

"Tch... Don't even bother answering." Solo turned away, frustrated. It was as if, in the silence, he had already read Subaru's mind. "Rot in this era for all I care."

"GrrRZzzZzzzzzZt..."

"I'll retrieve it later." Solo retorted angrily at his Wizard. He glanced at Subaru one last time before turning back to the barred walls. "I'm disappointed in you, Rockman."

"Wait! Solo!" Subaru reached out, but grasped nothing as Solo was enveloped in purple flames. In his place was the Murian warrior Burai.

Without saying another word he phased through the iron bars. Glowing faintly, Burai disappeared from the naked human eye. Subaru moved to put on his Visualizer, but he'd already miss the other boy phase through the cement walls.

Warrock urged for Subaru to escape as well. But Subaru simply shook his head.

"What's wrong, Subaru? We should follow him before it's too late."

"I know, Warrock. But—"

"But what?" A voice asked from the hall's doorway, prompting Subaru to hastily look over. He had hoped that whoever was there eavesdropping didn't hear the majority of what Solo and him discussed. It was Enzan, his arms folded with a cold stare directed at Subaru. "Were you planning on escaping like your friend just did?"

"N-No... I wasn't..." Subaru fumbled an answer. He found it hard to look at the other boy directly. It was as if Enzan could see straight through any lie he may sputter out. "Um... Are Netto and you alright? After what happened last night..."

Enzan let out a sigh. The two brunettes were the same in some respect. "Yeah. Though I think Netto is worrying more about you then himself at this moment."

Unfolding his arms, Enzan walked over to the cell. From his pocket, he took out a ring of keys and proceeded to unlock the door. All the while, there was a stiff silence between the two of them. Only the jingling of keys hung in the air.

It was only after Enzan had opened the cell door that he finally asked, "So... You were Ryuusei all along?"

The Net Saviors already knew. There was no denying it. But Enzan wanted to hear from Subaru directly.

"Yeah..." Subaru seemed to nod his head, but it struck Enzan as more of an apologetic bow.

"Why didn't you tell us sooner? After you helped us with all those darkloid attacks, you always left without another word."

Subaru was unsure what to say. He had been hiding his secret this whole time for what reason? Was he afraid that they wouldn't believe him? If he had told anyone his identity, there were sure to be more questions that followed.

Where did he come from? How could he transform into "Ryuusei"?

Would anyone believe him if he said he came from the future? Or that he transformed with the help of an alien wave being?

He couldn't bring himself to tell these insecurities to Enzan. The silence that once again passed between the two boys only served to frustrate Enzan further.

"If you can't trust us, how could we ever trust you?"

"It's not that I don't trust all of you! It's just—!" Subaru tried to respond back, but yet again became tongue tied on a reason to give.

"If you don't tell us a thing about you, then how could we help you?"

"I... I'm sorry." Subaru finally said. "It's not that I don't want to tell you... it's just..."

"No. It's... alright." Realizing that he was literally interrogating the other boy, Enzan's anger seemed to subside. "I'm... sorry as well." There was no point in forcing the information out of him this way. He knew that Subaru could escape from them anytime he pleased as Ryuusei. Yet the other boy was staying only out of some sense of duty. "I can't say I understand, but I know that everyone has things that they need to hide."

"I'm sorry..." The boy apologized again, his voice coming out as just a whisper. Guilt wracked his heart, only because he knew that Enzan simply wanted to help.

However, he could still say nothing as Enzan walked out the door. Leaving Subaru in his thoughts and to do as he pleased.

* * *

"Regal-sama... about Black Ace." Yuriko had finished her report on the happenings of the previous night. With the shadows of the room hindering her vision, she couldn't tell whether Dr. Regal's expression had changed in the slightest. "No. Let me correct myself. About Hoshikawa Subaru, what do you make of him?"

"Ryuusei. Black Ace. Hoshikawa Subaru." Regal listed off all the identities of the mysterious anomaly. "All of them are one and the same. However, something is still missing."

The man leaned in his chair, swerving once more to the computer screens. With his back towards Yuriko, he continued his ponderings. "Hoshikawa Subaru is human. This is an undeniable fact. However, the riddle is how he is able to become Ryuusei, and from Ryuusei to Black Ace."

"What is Ryuusei?" Yuriko asked, wondering whether or not the great scientist had already discerned the answer.

"I came up with a theory." Dr. Regal stated simply. "If I recall... you noticed how the boy's NetNavi was rather... unordinary." He had paused briefly to think of a word to describe the anomaly. "Its composition is not one of code... but of 'waves.'"

"Waves?" Yuriko's eyebrows furrowed, confused on what the genius scientist was alluding to.

"It is purely theory." Dr. Regal waved a hand of dismissal. "In any case, Yuriko, it is about time we move a step forward with our plans, to root out and dispose of all that hinder us." The man's eyes seem to gleam with malevolence as he explained the scheme. "Shademan, the Net Savers, and even Ryuusei. All of them will be dealt with here and now."

Yuriko simply nodded. She bowed once more before making her exit. Those words were a sign. It was time to set this plan in motion.

* * *

"Do you think I was a bit harsh...?" Enzan said aloud as he walked back to the main conference room.

"Enzan-sama?" Blues asked, taken aback by his operator's sudden question.

"Do you think I was a bit harsh on Subaru?" Enzan looked down at his PET. Blues looked back at him, but as usual, it was hard to tell the Navi's expression with his shaded visor. "I could have been more like Netto. More trusting. More..."

"You are you. Enzan-sama." Blues stated simply.

Enzan looked surprised upon hearing his Navi's prompt reply, but smiled soon after. "Yeah. You're right, Blues."

As the Net Saver made his way down the hall, he heard a large commotion coming from the conference room he had left. With a sense of urgency now, Enzan rushed to see what had happened during his brief absence.

* * *

Subaru walked the streets aimlessly. After leaving the Net Police station, he was filled with a sense of guilt and loneliness. He felt too much self-loathing to return to the Hikari household.

"Buck up, kid. You look as if the whole world is out to get us." Warrock tried to cheer up the boy. It was only after Subaru put on his Visualizer that he noticed that Warrock had materialized outside of the PET.

"Yeah... Thanks Warrock..." The image that Warrock's words made in Subaru's mind reminded him of Burai for a moment; a lonesome figure who rejected the world around him. "We should probably go and find Solo while we still can. I still have a lot of questions I need to ask him."

Lifting his Visualizer from his eyes, Subaru continued down the street lost. While Netto did show him around the city, the problem lied in not having a destination. Suddenly, without warning, Subaru was jerked backwards as he felt a firm grip on his wrist. Turning around, he saw the same mysterious brunette woman with the dark shades that hid her eyes.

"Hoshikawa Subaru. Right?" The normally calm and collected Yuriko looked at the boy with worry. After grabbing his attention, she loosened her grip on Subaru. "Sorry for treating you roughly. I was just in such a hurry to find you."

"You're...? You're that lady from before." Subaru looked at the mysterious woman questioningly. "Who are you?"

"A friend. Though, I guess I've never introduced myself. My name is Yuriko." She answered before relaying her message. "I hope you don't mind but, do you have a moment to talk?"

"About what?" A voice from behind Subaru spoke out, interrupting what had been a private conversation. Solo walked in front of Subaru, standing between him and Yuriko, all the while staring daggers at the older lady.

"Solo…?" Subaru knew that the other boy was waiting for him outside, but his sudden appearance took him by surprise.

"Ooh? And who might you be?" Yuriko raised an eyebrow. Judging by the boy's strange appearance, she had a slight suspicion the mysterious boy's identity. She heard the same buzzing from the Noise detection device implanted in her earring. Her eyes gleamed upon the realization. "You too, huh? A Noise manipulator… The boy from last night no doubt."

"What of it?" Solo said threateningly. He had an immediate distaste of the woman upon their first meeting the previous night. "You have no business with us.

"You… know about Noise?" Subaru was taken aback. He didn't think that people of this era were even aware of Noise, let alone know that both Solo and himself were related to it.

"I know more then just that." She replied, putting her hands up front to show she had nothing to hide. "Look, I'm not going to hurt you. I'm just here to help."

"Help?" Subaru looked at the woman apprehensively. Yuriko let out a small sigh at the boy's mistrust before kneeling to eye level with the boys. She put a hand on both of their shoulders. Ignoring the other boy momentarily, Yuriko looked Subaru in the eyes to address him specifically.

"I just want to know more about you. Hoshikawa Subaru. Or should I say, 'Ryuusei'?"

"How did you…?"

Solo immediately responded by swatting her hand off. "And how exactly do you intend to 'help'?"

Yuriko smiled, happy to answer the boy's question. "I'll help you control 'Black Ace.' All you have to do is let me."

* * *

"Dr. Regal?" Netto looked at his father with confusion written all over his face. "Who's that?"

"He's a renowned scientist in the same field as your dad." Rockman clarified for Netto from his PET. "We're talking about that Dr. Regal. Right?"

Yuuichiro let out a small sigh. "Yes. We've been trying to contact him for a while now regarding this case. We thought that he could give us some new insight. Especially about the Ryuusei and Noise incidents… along with the darkloid problem."

"But?" Enzan was waiting for whatever bad or good news that was to come. "I'm guessing that it was unsuccessful."

"Well, yes. Until today." Yuuichiro, despite the apparent good news, didn't appear to be too happy. "I received an e-mail from him not too long ago. After filling him in on the details, his recommendations were a bit… excessive."

"Excessive?" Netto asked.

Yuuichiro fell silent for a moment, as he tried to think of a good context in which to answer. "I'm not sure if you boys are aware of it… but incidents of malfunctioning electronics have drastically went up. Every one of these occurrences has one thing in common."

"Noise." Enzan answered, prompting a small nod from Yuuichiro.

"But if it's happening in various places, then that must mean Subaru isn't the one who caused them, right?" Netto tried to piece together the information.

"We don't know." Yuuichiro frowned at not being able to give his son the straight answer he was looking for. "There's still a lot we don't know. But we're hoping that when Dr. Regal comes down to visit us here, we can clarify some of our theories."

"So what is this 'excessive' action that Dr. Regal suggested." Enzan reminded the doctor of the topic at hand.

"Well, I haven't told him the identity of Ryuusei or rather of Hoshikawa Subaru." Yuuichiro slightly winced at the thought of the genius scientist's recommendation. "But he had strongly suggested that we… eliminate him. And that would solve our problems regarding Noise."

"There's no way we'd do that!" Netto immediately said in response.

"After all the help against the darkloids, how could we do something like that?" Rockman added in protest.

"Indeed. That isn't an option we can take." Enzan said simply, reaffirming Netto's words. He looked around, breathing a sigh of relief that the other Net Savers were not present. If the ones that opposed protecting Subaru were here, they'd have been overjoyed to hear a scientist such as Dr. Regal supporting their opinions. "It'll be troublesome if this were to get out to the rest of the Net Savers…"

"I agree with you two." Yuuichiro finally smiled at their honest answer. "I wish that we could ignore the Ryuusei case until we finish handling the darkloid problem. But after finding a dark chip on him, most of the department is simply combining the two together as one problem."

"We don't even know how Subaru got a hold of a dark chip though!" Netto exclaimed. "I'm sure that if we just ask him…!"

"That's where you come in, Netto." Enzan abruptly said.

"Huh?"

"I'm relying on you to talk with Subaru when you get back home." Enzan looked away slightly. "With your personality, I think you'll do a lot better then me."

"But Enzan, didn't you talk with Subaru earlier?"

"Well…" Enzan trailed off a bit as an awkward silence passed between the three of them waiting for an answer.

The silence was finally broken as Rockman spoke up to give an urgent message. "Um, Netto. Mom was wondering where Subaru-kun is. He hasn't arrived home yet…"

* * *

There was barren wasteland as far as the eye can see. Ruins of old civilizations long extinct were half buried in cyber sand. With all the dangerous viruses that lurked in the sand, no "civilized" navi could ever hope to survive here without the help of a NetOp.

This was the Undernet, a realm where the strong gathered.

And it was here that Forte chose to dwell as he recovered from his battles. Slumped against an old stone pillar, he grimaced from his wounds.

"The scars from your recent battle won't heal easily, Forte." A soft yet booming voice echoed in the solo Navi's ear. He glanced upwards to see a figure descending from the sky. The silhouette could almost be mistaken for an angel, but Forte knew very well to whom that voice belonged too. "Slowly but surely, you're healing. You've redefined what is possible for a simple Navi. Most would succumb and fade into deletion."

"What do you want... Serenade?" Forte glared upwards, sarcasm dripping from every word. "Has the great Lord of the Undernet come to laugh at me?"

Forte was in no position to fight. Despite reveling in the thought of battling against the seemingly god like Serenade, he could not even lift a finger with Noise corrupting his body. It was a miracle in itself that Forte escaped deletion from this unknown force. Any other Navi would have vaporized from the corruption of their programming.

Ignoring the black Navi's blood lust, Serenade landed soundlessly onto the desert floor in front of Forte. "Do you not sense it, Forte? A great danger is approaching."

"Tch... It has nothing to do with me." Forte sneered at Serenade's warning. "I could care less with what happens to the human world that you care so much about."

Despite the navi's attitude, Serenade's expression didn't falter. His face was always serene.

"This danger not only threatens the human world, but the cyber world as well. All technology, along with the majority of human life, will be eradicated." Serenade watched Forte's expression carefully. "Neither you nor I will survive its impact."

Some silence passed between the two Navis before Forte finally replied. "What is the 'it' you speak of?"

It was at this point that Serenade knew. He had hooked Forte's interest.

"Something related to that black winged warrior you are so fond of at the moment. A crimson comet made up of what humans call 'Noise'."

* * *

AN: Things are beginning to wind up now to a certain climax. This chapter is quite short, but it's stuffed with a lot of info and explanations, so I hope you all don't mind! Also, while Serenade and the Undernet do not exist in the anime, I hope you don't mind me borrowing the two from the manga.

Sorry for the delay and thanks for waiting!


	8. The Will to Protect! Diverging Paths!

AN: -Pokes head in- Er… Hi guys! I'm back! Time to get this old boulder rolling again!

Disclaimer: As usual, I don't own the characters or universe.

**Chapter 8: The Will to Protect! Diverging Paths!**

"Over here." Yuriko motioned Subaru and Solo to enter the bustling hotel lobby. There were many seats for guests to lounge and enjoy the atmosphere. With the traffic of people coming in and out constantly, Subaru felt a little bit more at ease. He had honestly expected the meeting place to be a more remote or secret location. "Stay here. He will be right with you."

Solo still showed great distaste for the woman. Even as she left, he continued to glare at her retreating form. "She stinks of deceit. But if what she says is true…"

"Then we can probably find our way back, right?" Subaru finished off Solo's conclusion. "I don't think we really have any other options or any other leads."

"Tch… I don't like it." Solo folded his arms. He had to acknowledge that they had little choice, given their current status. Rather then sit on one of the couches in the hotel lobby; he resigned to simply lean against the wall. His reasoning being that it would be easier to react in the case of an ambush.

The two boys waited silently for a few minutes until they saw a tall dark haired man dressed in a long coat walking towards them. What was most notable about him was the glass monocle over his right eye.

"I'm glad to finally get the chance to meet you, Ryuusei." The man looked at Subaru with a glint in his eyes. "Or should I say, Hoshikawa Subaru-kun. I've heard a lot about you from my colleagues. I hope Yuriko has been treating you nicely."

Subaru didn't like the stare that the man gave him. It was as if he was being studied. Though hesitant, Subaru guessed that the man wouldn't try anything funny with all the people in the hotel lobby. "U-Um… it's nice to meet you…"

"I don't like this guy." Warrock growled under his breath as he floated to the side outside of the PET. Both the AMian and Murian with just a glance had immediately judged him to be untrustworthy. There was something devious that emanated from him. "Everything about him seems fishy."

"Lets just see what he has to say." Subaru whispered back. Noticing that minute detail, Yuriko glanced at the boy curiously.

"Oh how rude of me. I haven't even introduced myself." The man chuckled as if laughing at the boy's unwarranted caution. He gave a warm smile, gesturing to one of the sofas for the boys to sit down on. "I am Dr. Regal. You can say I'm a friend of Dr. Hikari. Though I guess you're more acquainted with his son, Hikari Netto."

"You know Netto's dad?" Subaru asked in surprise from hearing a familiar name.

"Yes, he told me a lot about you… or rather of Ryuusei. Imagine my surprise to find out that 'Ryuusei' was just a young boy." Regal shook his head in dismay. "But I have to say, after the events from last night, you're in quite a tough spot with the Net Saviors."

"… What do you mean?" Subaru had a feeling he knew what the man was talking about, but didn't want his fears confirmed. Solo's eyes narrowed as he tried to see through to the man's intentions.

"The Net Saviors see you as a danger. You're an anomaly that they cannot understand. And it's because of that they cannot leave you to your own devices."

"Netto and Enzan wouldn't…"

"You must take into account that those two aren't the only Net Saviors around. I'm willing to guess that the majority of the officers don't exactly trust a young boy with that kind of power." Regal took a sidelong glance, appearing to empathize with the boy's situation. "And with the two of them in the minority… well it wouldn't be all too surprising if their hands are forced into doing something unpleasant."

Subaru shook his head, not wanting to believe the man's words. But deep down, he knew that there was evidence of it being a very possible situation. After what he had done that night, it was no surprise people would be anxious. "Why exactly are you telling me this?"

"I'm worried on what those Net Savers would be willing to do to ensure 'public safety'. You may never see the light of day again." The man clapped a hand on Subaru's shoulder. "I however, have no intention of hiding you away as some experimental lab rat."

Subaru grimaced at the thought, unsure on how to respond to the man's words.

"All you have to do is let me help you." Regal gave a reassuring smile. "Will you cooperate with me?"

"Kid, you know better then him that those two wouldn't let something like that happen." Warrock tried to ease the boy's mind. "What does this guy know anyways?"

Subaru looked at Regal with conviction. The spark in his eyes already gave a clear indication as to what his answer would be. "I'm sorry Dr. Regal. But, I trust Netto and Enzan, so I can't accept your offer. I'm going to figure this out with their help."

"You…!" Yuriko was about to speak up, but was halted by Regal.

"Yuriko, that's no way to talk to our guest." Regal commanded in a harsh voice, completely unlike how he was talking before to Subaru.

"My apologies." Yuriko bowed slightly, shrinking away from Regal's glare.

Despite Subaru's answer, Regal didn't show a bit of dismay as he turned back to face him. Rather, he looked thoughtful, as if in understanding. "I know this must be a lot for you to take in right now, Hoshikawa-kun. But I just wanted you to know that I'm here to help." Regal stressed the concern in his voice, as he leaned a bit closer. "I'm the only one you can trust right now. You can take as long as you want to decide. I'm sure you know, the power of Black Ace is something only to be feared left uncontrolled."

"And what proof do you have that you understand a damn thing about us?" Solo spoke for the first time since the man's introduction. He still remained leaning against the pillar, his arms folded. "You're just like the rest of the humans here: ignorant of what you're truly dealing with. What can you hope to offer us?"

Regal simply smiled. "I'm glad you asked that, though I don't believe I caught your name. Are you perhaps, similar to Hoshikawa-kun here?"

Solo simply replied with a grunt, not wanting to give any more information then was necessary to the man.

"Ah well, it's of no matter." Regal shrugged his shoulders at the cold response from the other boy before returning to the topic at hand. "Noise is what you call it, am I right? It's the energy that Black Ace draws upon."

"So, you know about Noise?" Solo smirked as he replied sarcastically. "I guess that's a start."

The man shook his head. "I don't know much about it other then its general composition. Except, I've recently discovered its origin. Maybe that might be of interest to you?"

"Its origin?" Subaru asked, curious now to have the man go on.

"I've only recently discovered it." Regal pointed upwards towards the ceiling. "You may not be able to see it now during the day sky, but no doubt you feel it. A red star in the sky. Do you perhaps know what that is?"

"Meteor G…" Both boys whispered under their breath in unison. They were all too familiar with the "red star" that threatened to crash into the earth not too long ago.

"If we were to control the source of Noise, the energy that Black Ace draws upon, then surely…"

"Let's go. We're done here." Solo abruptly pulled Subaru up by the arm. Not wanting the two adults to continue with their coercion, Solo took the initiative to have them make their exit. "We have all the information we need."

"Hey, you brats!" Yuriko was about to reach out to grab the boys. However, she was halted once more by Regal. "Regal-sama… they're…"

"It's okay. Leave them for now."

With a last glance at the man, the two left. That sly smile on Regal's face never left. It was as if he knew that all the pieces would inevitably fall into place.

"I'm sure I will be seeing them soon."

* * *

"Mom! Mom, I'm home!" Netto burst through the door. Immediately after hearing the news of Subaru's disappearance, he had looked around town for hours to find any clues to his whereabouts. After the sun had set, and his stomach now growling, he finally returned home. Though shockingly, as he turned into the kitchen where his mom was, he spotted the missing person in question casually cutting the skins of the potatoes. Netto screamed as if he had seen a ghost, startling Subaru enough to almost dropping the knife. "S-Subaru? What are you doing here? I thought you were missing!"

"Oh, Netto! You're home!" Unfazed by her son's overly dramatic behavior, Haruka Hikari turned to see Netto with his dumbfounded look. "We're cooking dinner, so sit tight, alright?"

"Ah... I just got back." Subaru turned to apologize. "Sorry for making you worry."

"Geez, where've you been? Of course everyone is going to freak out if you just disappeared so suddenly!" Netto breathed a sigh of relief. "What were you doing out for so long anyways?"

"Well, after Enzan got me out from the Net Police station… I sort of got lost in the city." Subaru tried to laugh it off casually. "That's it."

"And what about that other guy? The scary looking one with white hair and red eyes? And also about what happened last night-"

"Now Netto, don't be impolite." His mom scolded. "You two can discuss this all after we've finished preparing dinner."

"But mom!" Netto complained. He still had tons of questions he wanted answers to. "This is really important Net Saver business!"

"Haruka-san. He's right." Subaru set down the knife he was using and turned to Netto. "There's a lot we need to talk about. Right, Netto?"

"Subaru…?" Netto was taken aback by the unusual straightforwardness displayed by Subaru. "Is there something wrong?"

"This might be my last chance… there are some things I need to tell you, Netto. Do you mind if we talk outside somewhere?"

* * *

"As I said, you are being too hasty." Enzan returned the officer's even stare. The two of them have been arguing back and forth for some time. It was the same officer who had blurted out during the official Net Saver meeting that they held regarding Ryuusei. "Are you sure that your fear isn't blinding you to what help he's already given us, Officer Koyama?"

"Hmph. What would a kid like you know?" The man looked down at the boy in obvious abhorrence. The fact that someone as young as Enzan was of higher ranking then himself hurt his pride. He tried his best to keep his cool, not wanting to be made a fool of again. "Your own naivety is blinding you from the dangers that he poses. You are weighing the lives of thousands over just one. It is unfortunate, but it is a necessary precaution to ensure public safety."

"I'm not weighing lives nor am I not considering the dangers that he poses." Enzan sighed in frustration. The conversation was going around in circles due to the man's stubbornness. "I'm simply saying that treating him like a dangerous criminal isn't a 'precaution' that is exactly necessary."

"Well, Ijuuin-kun." Koyama raised a leveled hand as he proposed an all too familiar hypothetical situation. "If that friend of yours were to go berserk again, how would you handle the situation? Do you think that you and your Net Navi have the power to stop him?"

"When the time comes, I will do whatever is in my power to stop him." It was a question that Enzan could not give a satisfactory answer for. However, he remained steadfast. The dark chip that he had confiscated from Subaru was gripped tightly in his hand. "I'll make sure of it."

The officer sneered at the boy's lofty promise. "Hmph, let's see if you'll still be so confident once Dr. Regal arrives."

"Dr. Regal is coming here?" Enzan was shocked that the renowned yet reclusive scientist was paying them a visit. He bit his lip, having a foreboding feeling for what exactly the man was coming for.

"Of course." Koyama smirked, taking some amount of satisfaction of getting a reaction from the normally levelheaded boy. "We can't let Dr. Hikari's research be our only source of information. It will be nice to hear what suggestions Dr. Regal has to offer."

Already hearing earlier of Regal's conclusions on Ryuusei from Dr. Hikari, he could only assume that the anti-Ryuusei faction of Net Saviors would be gathering around Dr. Regal's advice to push for more aggressive measures to be taken.

"Well, speak of the devil. Look who's here." The officer offhandedly said as he glanced at an approaching figure down the hall. Enzan looked over, and sure enough it was the devil himself. The man with the glass monocle over one eye was walking straight towards them. Sure enough he had just arrived, stopping in front of the two after hearing his name being mentioned in their conversation. "If it isn't the famous Dr. Regal. It's a pleasure to finally meet you."

"You flatter me. It is rare I get the opportunity to visit here." Regal shook the officer's hand firmly. He glanced over at Enzan and gave him a polite nod of recognition. "And you must be Ijuuin-kun. I must say you are indeed quite young for a Net Savior. Though with your talents, it's to be expected."

Regal offered his hand to Enzan as well out of courtesy. Politely returning the greeting, Enzan was surprised with how cold the man's hand was.

"I couldn't help but notice your heated discussion." Regal said as he turned to the officer. "Might I guess it's about the one called 'Ryuusei'?"

"Yes, yes." The officer nodded his head. He gave a small smirk to Enzan as if gloating. "We will talk more about it in the next meeting. I'm excited to hear what suggestions you have to offer us, Dr. Regal."

"No doubt you must all be quite worried given Ryuusei's unknown nature. I'm glad that I can offer assistance."

"What kind of 'assistance' are you talking about?" Enzan inquired.

"Ah well, after analyzing the data that Dr. Hikari sent, I believe I've made some good tools that can benefit our efforts in limiting the destruction that 'Noise' causes. I need be, they will be useful for detaining Ryuusei. As I've heard, you've been having difficulty due to his… composition."

"Don't you think those precautions are unnecessary? It's obvious that he isn't hostile."

"I agree with you Ijuuin-kun. He likely means no harm. But you've seen it first hand, haven't you? Just how uncontrollable he becomes when using 'Noise'." Regal paused a bit, as if thinking on how exactly to choose his words so as to not upset the boy. "The device that I've made isn't meant to hurt him, just restrain him. If anything, this will help him if he truly is out of control."

Enzan gritted his teeth. The scientist's reasoning was sound. There was little he could comment on or disagree with. Dr. Regal made his argument well.

"Now then, I must be off to see Dr. Hikari as well. I will see the two of you at the meeting. I have a good feeling that we can all come to some sort of understanding." Dr. Regal gave a last nod to the both of them before continuing down the hall.

* * *

"You're telling me that you and that other guy are from the future? And you guys are trying to find a way back to your own time period?"

Subaru slowly nodded. When presented to him flatly like that, it sounded all the more ridiculous.

"You idiot! Why didn't you tell us earlier?" Netto yelled as he knocked Subaru upside the head. "If you told us earlier, then we could have helped you out all the sooner."

"I'm sorry, I- Wait… you believe me?" Subaru was astonished by Netto's simple acceptance of his explanation.

"Well… with what's happened, and with you being Ryuusei and all, I guess I'm not too surprised." Rockman spoke up from the PET as well.

"You could tell me that you're an alien and I'd believe you!" Netto joked as he nudged Subaru in the side with an elbow.

"Well… saying that Ryuusai is an alien isn't too far off the mark…" Subaru rubbed his neck, looking slightly in Warrock's direction. The AMian returned the glance, and nodded as if giving his approval of what Subaru was about to do. Taking off his Visualizer, he handed it to Netto so that he could see for himself the 'alien' that was the key to transforming into "Ryuusei".

"W-Whooa! So you can see Net Navis with these glasses on?!" Netto stared through the green lenses to see a life-sized Warrock waving back at him to the side of Subaru.

"He's a… uh… alien." Subaru corrected Netto.

"An AMian to be specific." Warrock followed after, correcting Subaru's statement.

Handing the glasses back over to Subaru, there was only one more thing that Netto wanted to ask. "How about 'Black Ace'? What's the deal with that?"

Subaru looked silently up at the sky, pondering exactly how to explain it. "I'm… not really myself when I'm 'Black Ace.' At least that's how I feel."

"What do you mean?"

"It's hard to explain. I can't think straight, but I feel a lot of power well up inside of me… and information just starts pouring in my head." Subaru trailed off, not quite sure exactly how to explain the phenomenon. "It's a scary feeling. It's like I'm lost in darkness… not knowing who my enemy is anymore. I could end up hurting you guys again."

"But you're still in there, right Subaru? Both you and Warrock."

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"Well, what I'm trying to say is…" Netto scratched his cheek, trying to find the words. "I believe in you. And next time you go on a rampage, Rockman and I will be there to snap you out of it!"

"That's too dangerous! I don't want to end up hurting you…" Subaru argued against Netto's rashness. But he couldn't dissuade the hot-blooded youth.

"It's nothing that we can't handle. You may not know it, but we've had our share of tough battles! Right, Rockman?"

"Of course!" Rockman exclaimed. "There's no virus, darkloid, or anything that can beat the two of us!"

"If it's life threatening battles we're talking about…" Warrock folded his arms as he gloated. "We've saved the world… three times now isn't it?"

The four of them laughed. They talked quite a bit about the various adventures that they've been on. Netto described how he and Rockman foiled the Net Terrorist group World Three. Subaru told him about how he and Warrock prevented aliens from destroying their planet. They spent a good hour recounting their tales of heroism.

After all was said and done, Subaru smiled at the reassurance Netto's company gave. "Thanks Netto. I know you'll be a big help. If I'm able to control Black Ace, then there's a good chance I can find my way back home too."

"It's a lot to take in all at once." Rockman said. "But if there's anything we can do to help…"

"I got an idea! Why don't I tell dad about it? I'm sure he can be a big help in finding a way to control Black Ace." Netto suggested.

"I remember you said your dad was a scientist, right? Sure. Lets try that."

Netto gave a wide grin after hearing his answer. "Alright! I'm going to head back to shoot dad an email then. You coming?"

Subaru shook his head. "I'm going to stay here for a little while. I'll catch up in a bit."

"Okay, but you better not run off again, ya' hear?" Netto said jokingly before getting up. After brushing off the dust from his clothes, Netto gave a small wave before running off back towards the house.

"You sure about this, kid?" Warrock asked after Netto had disappeared in the distance.

"I think it's worth a shot. And it's not like they're strangers or anything." Subaru replied. "I know that it hasn't been too long since I've been here… and it's not that I don't miss home. But talking with Netto reminded me of all the lessons I've learned in the past."

"Getting home sick, eh?"

"Yeah, I'm always wondering how everyone is doing." Subaru looked up at the night sky. It was reminiscent of the times he spent back home looking up at the stars at Ridge Point. He closed his eyes, remembering all of his friend's faces. However in the midst of his reminiscing, he could hear a small buzz in his ear. It grew louder and louder until it evolved into a roar. Subaru's eyes shot open, the starry night sky greeting him again. However this time, he noticed the red glimmer amidst the many white sparkles. "That's…"

"Meteor G, eh?" Warrock looked up to see the red star as well. "So you can feel it too."

"Yeah…" Subaru clutched his throbbing head. In his chest, he could feel his heart begin to race as if he were coming face to face with the Crimson Dragon once again. "It's calling us. I can tell."

"I hear it loud and clear. To think that a human though would get this kind of reaction to Noise though…" Warrock looked at him with worried eyes. "It can't be good for you, kid."

"I'm fine." Subaru tried to laugh reassuringly. "How about you though, Warrock? Are you doing okay?"

"Heh, you don't need to worry about me kid." Warrock playfully ruffled Subaru's hair. "We're a team. Don't forget that, Subaru."

"Just like Netto and Rockman, right?" Subaru smiled up at his partner. "Anyways, we should probably head back. Dinner is probably ready by now."

"Heey! Subaru!" Netto came running towards him from the direction of the house.

"Netto? What are you doing here?" Subaru turned to see Netto panting from the sprint. It was strange to see him coming back to check up on them so soon. "Is something wrong?"

"No time to talk! You have to get out of—"

"Going somewhere?" A gruff voice called out to the boys. Suddenly, dozens of strong flashlights were pointed at them. Subaru squinted against the harsh light to see a group of men in heavy artillery armor begin to approach them.

"Netto! That's the Net Police special forces team!" Rockman exclaimed from the PET. "But why are _they_ after Subaru?"

"It would do you kids well if you don't resist." One of the men stepped forward from the group to negotiate. "Under orders, we are to take Hoshikawa Subaru into custody. Immediately."

"What gives? He didn't do anything wrong!" Netto began to protest until he felt Subaru's hand on his shoulder. He shook his head, not wanting Netto to say another word.

"It's okay Netto. I don't want to cause you any trouble." Subaru said before walking forward towards the officer. There wasn't the least bit of fear on his face as he confronted the group.

"You're a brave kid." The officer commended as Subaru stopped right in front of him. There was a hint of sympathy in his voice. "Nothing like what the reports said you would be like."

"I'll come quietly." Subaru simply said as he looked up at the officer. He couldn't see the man's eyes behind the dark visor, but it was obvious he wasn't all too happy about taking a seemingly hapless kid under custody.

The scene indeed would look ridiculous from an outsider's point of view. A dozen heavily armored men escorting what appeared to be a single defenseless child. Some distance away, a pair of red eyes was watching the whole event unfold.

"Tch, I'm guessing he didn't listen to my advice…" Solo cursed as he saw Subaru leave with the group of men. However, he'd rather take this Subaru's straightforward attitude over the gloomy one earlier in the day. "Typical as always. He places too much trust in people. That soft heartedness will come to bite him later on."

"KrrzzzzZzzT?" Laplace floated to his side, its expression never changing. For a second, it looked as if Solo was smiling from the thought that his rival was back to his old self.

"Rockman can take care of himself." Solo replied to the ethereal creature. If he ever needed to find Subaru, all he had to do was follow the trail of Noise that the core left behind. They had intended to meet later that night, but it seems as if there was a change in plans. There was something else that had caught his attention earlier during his exploration of the city. "There are other things we need to investigate."

Solo took one last look up at the red star in the sky before turning his back on the scene, disappearing once more into the shadows.

* * *

"What exactly is this device?" Yuuichiro stared in awe at the machinery that was carted into the lab. It was a dome with a clear plastic shell that revealed the complex circuitry within. As he leaned in to get a closer look, Yuuichiro could hear a soft humming coming from the device.

"It's a wave device." Regal motioned towards the dome. "A device meant to distribute waves in the air. To be more specific, electromagnetic waves."

"Waves?" Yuuichiro couldn't help but raise an eyebrow at the strange explanation.

"Yes. As you probably have noticed, 'Ryuusei' despite his appearance is nothing like a Net Navi. His composition is completely different from that of a simple program made up of 1s and 0s." Regal placed a hand on the dome as he calmly continued his explanation. "Though it's just a theory, I'm willing to guess that Ryuusei is composed of some form of electromagnetic wave."

"That's quite the conclusion you came to." Yuuichiro commended the brilliant scientist. It was a theory he would have never come to by himself. He looked down once more at the dome before asking, "So what purpose do you have in mind for this device?"

Before Regal could answer, an all too familiar officer entered into the lab, giving a small applause to the thoughtful explanation. "You live up to your reputation as a genius scientist, Dr. Regal."

"Ah, Officer Koyama. How nice of you to join us." Dr. Regal turned towards the doorway to see the man leading the anti-Ryuusei faction of the Net Saviors. Enzan followed suit, though he was looking less than happy in comparison to Koyama. "And if it isn't Ijuuin-kun. I'm guessing the meeting regarding Ryuusei has been concluded?"

"Yes. Its been concluded." Enzan begrudgingly answered. Regal didn't need to ask further to tell the results. It was plainly obvious by just reading the atmosphere.

"Then I guess I'll be seeing our guest of honor sooner then anticipated. Thank you for your hard work, gentleman." Regal gave a small bow to the two of them. "If you'll excuse me, I have some other business to attend to. I will be back shortly."

As he walked to the doorway, he didn't neglect to answer Yuuichiro's question before leaving. "As for that device, I'm sure you'll see it action sometime soon."

Regal made his exit from the lab, making his way down the empty corridor. Most of the usual day workers had already left for home, making the large facility seem almost eerie. He stopped just short of the corner where a large shadow was casted.

Though no one was visible, Regal already knew who was there. "Your report, Yuriko?"

"He's on his way. Hoshikawa Subaru as well." Yuriko stepped out from hiding. It was simple child's play for her to sneak in to the Net Police station. "But are you sure about this, Regal-sama? Putting yourself so easily in harms way?"

He waved his hand nonchalantly, dismissing her fears. "Everything is falling into place, just as planned."

The play was about to start. And Regal was going to have one of the best seats in the house.

* * *

"Enzan-sama…" Blues tried to console his operator on their current state of affairs, but the boy was clearly frustrated at his own powerlessness. He had retreated to one of the empty offices to escape Koyama's arrogant smile at his victory. The feeling of defeat was infuriating. Enzan couldn't help but slam a fist against the wall to release just a bit of steam.

"You don't need to say it Blues." Enzan responded between clenched teeth. In the world of adult politics, it was hard for a kid to get a good foothold. No matter how mature he may be, it was hard to break away from his image as a child. "There isn't much I can do at this point…"

The lights in the room suddenly blinked open as a familiar brunette poked his head in.

"Enzan! There you are! I was looking all over for you!" Netto exclaimed as he ran over to him. He obviously could not sense the mood that the other boy was in. "Subaru, he's—"

"I know." Enzan's brief reply caught Netto off guard.

"Then what are you doing here?"

"I've been taken off the investigation." Enzan explained calmly. His expression was hard to read, as if he were trying to conceal his true feelings behind an expressionless mask. "And you too Netto. As Net Saviors, we are to focus our full attention on taking care of the darkloid and dark chip problem. Therefore, we are to leave the handling of 'Ryuusei' to—"

"That's ridiculous!" Netto shouted. He found Enzan's suddenly heartless behavior odd. "How could you be so cold?! Subaru has been helping us all this time, yet—!"

"I know that!" Enzan exploded with emotion, meeting Netto's frustration with his own. His sudden outburst took Netto aback. Enzan paused, taking a deep breath to settle down. "I know that it's ridiculous. That Subaru has done nothing but help us. But there's nothing we can do."

"This isn't like you at all! How could we just give up?"

"Netto-kun. I think Enzan tried all he could." RockmanEXE tried to speak up. Hearing his partner's concerned voice cleared his mind a bit, but Netto still wanted answers.

"He's our friend, Enzan." Netto said, finally calming down enough so as not to yell. "And I want to do everything I can to help him out."

"A friend, huh?" Enzan let out a sigh. Dealing with the other boy was always an exhausting effort. But, he had to admire Netto's straightforwardness. Now that the conversation was less heated, he calmly explained the situation. "Dr. Regal came during our discussion on how to handle Ryuusei. His findings supported the other officials' approach, but if you can convince him otherwise that 'Ryuusei' isn't something to be feared, then maybe…"

"Alright! I got it! I'll go talk to him right now!" Netto quickly got the picture as he ran back to the doorway. "Thanks Enzan! I'll be back!"

"Wait! Netto—!" Enzan reached out to try and stop him from doing anything too rash, but the brunette was already out of earshot. "Geez, that guy…"

Despite his protest though, Netto gave him just a bit of hope that somehow there was a light at the end of the tunnel. He was about to follow after until he heard a small beeping from his PET.

"Enzan-sama." Blues called out. "There seems to be a situation."

* * *

"You must be Subaru-kun." Yuuichiro Hikari for the first time caught glimpse of the boy behind Ryuusei in person. Despite him staying at the Hikari household, Yuuichiro rarely paid a visit due to his heavy workload as a scientist. "I hope that they didn't treat you too roughly on your way here."

"Ah, you're Netto's dad…" Subaru recognized the man from the family portraits at Netto's house. He remembered that Dr. Regal had mentioned him as an acquaintance as well. By comparison, he seemed a lot friendlier. "Dr. Hikari, right?"

"Yes. I'm Yuuichiro Hikari. You can just call me Dr. Hikari, of course." He tried to make the boy feel more at ease after being escorted in such a manner to the station. "Oh, how about I get you a drink? Are you thirsty? Hungry?"

Subaru simply shook his head. "I'm fine."

"Kid, there's something here…" Warrock motioned over at the dome-like device. "Put your glasses on and look at that."

"What is it, Warrock?" Subaru asked while he shifted his Visualizer down. He had to hold back a gasp from what he saw. EM waves were pulsating out from the device. Of course, since there were no other similar devices to connect to, the waves simply bounced around erratically with no set destination.

"What's wrong, Subaru-kun?" Yuuichiro couldn't help but notice the surprise on the boy's face after he had put on those green lens glasses.

Subaru shifted up his glasses and pointed over at the strange dome. "That device. What is it?"

"A wave generator." Another voice answered. Subaru turned to see who had responded, and nearly jumped when he saw Dr. Regal standing directly behind him. The tall man chuckled at his shock. "It's a pleasure to see you again, Hoshikawa Subaru-kun."

"Have you two met before?" Yuuichiro asked, curious how the two made contact prior to their meeting now.

"We met earlier today. One of my associates introduced me to him." Regal answered before turning to Subaru again. "I had a feeling I'd meet you again."

"Were… you always working with the Net Police?" Subaru questioned. He was unnerved by the coincidence of meeting him again in such a place.

Warrock narrowed his eyes as he inspected the man again. "This guy is definitely fishy."

"I'm an independent researcher. But after hearing about you, I was fascinated by the vast potential that not only Ryuusei, but also what 'Noise' held for the future. I joined the Net Police knowing that they were doing the same research." Regal walked forward towards the device he had created. Placing a hand on it, he continued, "This is just one products of my inspiration that I wanted to share."

"Dr. Regal. Are you saying that—" Yuuichiro began to say until one of the large computer screens blinked on. There was a small bit of static before the image focused into that of the dark visage of a particularly vampiric looking navi.

"I've found you!" Shademan sneered as his eyes locked onto Regal. "You will pay for your treachery, human!"

As quickly as it came, the screen blinked off. There was a tense silence between the three of them before Yuuichiro spoke up. "Who was that?"

As if in response, there was a small rumbling underneath them as their surroundings took on a strange hue. Subaru had seen these occurrences enough to know what it meant.

Clumps of data began to materialize, and in a flash of blue light, the darkloid seen on the monitor had appeared before them. He towered over them, taking a few seconds to observe each individual present. The two scientists backed away slowly while Subaru stood his ground.

"Subaru-kun! It's dangerous!" Yuuichiro warned.

He ignored the protests from the back as he readied his PET. Without a moment's hesitation, Subaru yelled the words Warrock was waiting for. "Denpa Henkan, Hoshikawa Subaru, On Air!"

"Let's rock, kid!" Warrock roared out as a green light enveloped the both of them.

* * *

"A Dimensional Area?" Netto watched as everything began to take on a distorted look. "Is it a darkloid attack?"

"Blues just sent us an alert!" RockmanEXE reported. "There's a huge attack on the systems too! Viruses everywhere! If we don't do something soon…"

"Dad and Subaru are still here though! We have to make sure they're safe first!"

"You have a call, Netto-kun!" Rockman said before he opened up another window for the video call.

"Netto!" Enzan's voice could be heard from the other end. "The other officers and I are taking care of the viruses in the network. I'll catch up later. Hurry to the lab!"

"Got it!" Netto quickly answered before continuing his sprint down the halls. He didn't need to look far however before a familiar blue Rockman lookalike came crashing through, slamming against the opposite wall. "R-Ryuu—I mean, Subaru?! What's happening?"

"N-Netto? What are you doing here?" Subaru grimaced from the impact as he tried to get up. "You should get out of here! Its dangerous…"

"And leave you and dad here?" Netto ran over to help him up. "As if! Just you wait, Rockman and I will—"

Netto felt a hard shove, as 'Ryuusei' pushed him away from danger. From the hole that he came flying from, Shademan charged straight for him. Raising his hand, a light blue barrier formed around him. The impact of the darkloid's claws against the spherical shield caused sparks to appear. Though briefly surprised by the resistance, Shademan only applied just a bit more force before the barrier began to crack. Unable to react in time, Shademan caught the boy by the neck as soon as the barrier shattered like glass. He was pushed to the wall, trying to break the ruthless navi's hold.

"So this is the 'Ryuusei' that has slain so many of my brethren?" Shademan looked down at him in contempt, tightening his grip. "Who are you? A human? A navi?"

"A-Aaaugh!" Subaru could feel the wind being choked out of him. His vision was becoming blurry from the lack of oxygen.

As Shademan raised his other claw to finish the boy off, he was knocked aside by a strong cannon shot from the side. The blast sent him flying off of Subaru, allowing him to finally catch a breath of air.

R Rockman came rushing over, his cannon still smoking from the recently fired shot. He ran over once more to help Subaru back up. "Are you okay? Who the heck was that?"

"I don't know…" Subaru was wheezing still from nearly being choked to death. "He just suddenly appeared after the Dimensional Area came up. Your dad and Dr. Regal were—"

"Is that the best you can do, boy?" Shademan slowly got up, brushing the dust off. He looked completely unharmed by the attack. Though he was unamused by the sudden intrusion, it provided him a chance to kill two birds with one stone.

The two boys readied themselves for the attack. They both materialized a sword to be ready to parry another physical blow. To their surprise, Shademan instead simply spread both his wings as he let out a deafening screech. The sound was equivalent to nails on a chalkboard. Both of them fell to their knees from the terrible sound. With their guards down, he flew once more towards them, claws outstretched. R Rockman was the first to recover as he narrowly blocked the blow for the both of them.

"U-Ugh… he's strong!" Netto tried to hold Shademan back. But the darkloid seemed to push against him with unbelievable force. It was no wonder that a simple barrier couldn't hold him back. He looked to his side to see Subaru still disoriented, but for a seemingly different reason. "Hey Subaru, are you alright?"

"Y-Yeah…" Subaru tried to stand back up, but he was overwhelmed with a sense of nausea. Though no one else could see them, Ryuusei could see scattered EM waves flowing erratically all around them. "How did the EM waves get in here?

"Something strange is happening here." Warrock's voice could be heard from the device on his arm. "The Noise levels are rising by themselves!"

"It's… It's that device!" Subaru remembered the dome from before. "But why is it—?"

"_Resonating Noise Confirmed. Respond…?"_

The occurrence now seemed almost natural with the rising levels of Noise. And the two of them were not about to complain for a much needed power boost. "We can think about it later, kid! Focus on the battle now!"

"Right!" Subaru said as he focused his mind on tuning with the Noise present. White colored Noise fragments formed around his armor, and disbursed to reveal a pair of short wings and a beak-like helmet. His normally blue armor changed to a darker cyan. "Noise Change! Cygnus!"

Upon seeing the change, Shademan quickly backed away from his clash with R Rockman. He was weary of the substance called "Noise" after he observed its program corrupting nature. Carefully observing the two, he noted that something was a bit off.

"A-Auuugh…" Subaru fell to one knee once more as sparks began to crackle along his body. He strained to get up again as every one of his muscles felt like they were about to give out. "W-Why is this…?"

"W-What's happening?" R Rockman watched as Ryuusei's body was beginning to phase in and out of visibility. His armor was becoming distorted in shape and color, as if in the midst of another transformation. When he reached out to touch him, a sharp shock was sent through his body.

"Netto-kun! Don't touch him!" RockmanEXE's voice sounded in his ears after the nasty jolt. "Something's wrong!"

* * *

"Dr. Regal! We have to evacuate immediately!" Yuuichiro tried to pry the other scientist away from the scene. "It's too dangerous to stay here!"

"Not yet." Regal said calmly, despite the hectic situation. "Dr. Hikari, don't you want to observe what's happening up close? This is a rare opportunity."

"Those kids are risking their lives out there! How could you—!" Yuuichiro's protests were cut short as he felt a cloth over his mouth and the smell of chloroform in his nose. He let out a stifled yell before slipping into unconsciousness.

"Ah, Yuriko." Regal acknowledged her presence as she slumped the man down against one of the desks. "I trust everything is going according to plan?"

"Yes, Regal-sama. He's taken the bait." Yuriko reported. "Right now, Ryuusei is directly synchronized with our Noise wave generator. But… he's refusing to transform completely."

"So he's resisting the effects of the large artificial Noise output. But for how long?"

"There's one other thing, Regal-sama. Along with Shademan, something else seems to have infiltrated the network."

Regal finally turned to meet Yuriko's gaze. His eyes narrowed as he prodded for more details on the anomaly. "Something else?"

Yuriko seemed to shrink under his stare, but continued her report. "We aren't sure what it is, but its something immensely powerful."

* * *

"I… I won't…access the Meteor Server. Now now…!" Ryuusei gripped his chest, feeling his heart pounding as he broke into a cold sweat trying to hold back the power welling up inside of him. He couldn't stand the feeling of being so helpless, but it took all his will power to concentrate in not losing control again.

"_Child, why do you hesitate?"_ A voice rang in his ears, clear like a bell. It seemed to drown out all external noise, similar to a personal transmission. He couldn't recognize who was speaking to him, but it felt as if they were close. _"Are you afraid of the power you possess?"_

"Who... are you?" Subaru spoke to the disembodied voice. Time seemed to stand still, as if the conversation were taking place in his subconscious.

"_If you do nothing now, your friends will perish." _

"But if I…" He thought back on what Solo had said, about how he had to learn to control Black Ace. He remembered how the other boy scorned him for the same fear he had now. "I'm scared… that I'll end up hurting my friends."

"_Do not be afraid child. You must remember that you aren't alone. As long as you have the will to protect the ones important to you…"_ Subaru felt a gentle hand on his shoulder. However, when he turned to see who it was, there was no one there. Before he knew it, he was back in the hallway of the Net Police station. The whole conversation was like a dream.

"Ooy, Sub—u! Can you—me?!" Warrock's voice was slowly coming through amidst the static. "Get a hold of yourself! I'm right here!"

"Warrock?" Subaru was happy to hear his partner's voice again.

"Subaru, you can here me now?" The AMian was relieved that he hadn't lost connection with the boy amidst the high Noise levels again. They were on the verge of transforming, but the two of them were fighting against the change until they reestablished a connection with each other. In their current state, they were a mix between Cygnus and Black Ace with the normally navy armor dyed black. "I thought I lost you there again. You feeling okay, kid?"

"Warrock, did you hear…?" Subaru was about to ask him about the voice from before until R Rockman unceremoniously slammed into him. They skidded some ways with Subaru just barely managing to stay on his feet to support the other boy. "Netto! Are you alright?"

"Oh? So you can stand now, boy?" Shademan loomed over the two. He didn't seem injured at all, despite R Rockman's best efforts. "Then you can die along with him!"

With his hands full holding onto the barely conscience Net Savior, he closed his eyes, bracing for the darkloids attack. When the impact never came, he peeked his eyes open again to see a familiar red swordsman holding back the sharp claws that had threatened to tear him apart. "Are you two alright?"

"Kuh… another meddling human. But it won't make a bit of difference!" Shademan stared R Blues down, pushing with the same force that had overpowered both R Rockman and Ryuusei.

"Enzan!" Subaru was glad to see another ally, but couldn't afford to let his guard down with the enemy in front of them. Leaning R Rockman on one shoulder, he quickly used his other arm to shoot Shademan with a heavy cannon shot. At such a close proximity, even the almighty leader of the darkloids was sent flying. The blow was immense, but it was more then just the firepower that was inflicted.

Shademan felt his left hand become stiff. Looking down to see the damage, his eyes widened at what he saw. His arm was slowly growing dark purple patches. It was an indication of his programming becoming corrupted from Noise. "This is…!" He turned up to see Ryuusei, who met his gaze straight on. "You—!"

"Give it up." R Blues shouted over to the injured darkloid. He had his blade ready for another attack.

R Rockman too had recovered and was standing on his own two feet with his buster pointed at him. "There's no chance that you'll win. Not against all three of us."

"They're right, Shademan. You're better off deleted." A low voice resounded in the hallway. The three of them looked around to see who was speaking, unsure of whether the speaker was a friend or foe. Suddenly, a small laser shot from behind the three boys, narrowly missing them. It was precisely aimed at the already wounded darkloid, causing him to howl in pain as he felt his corrupted arm become severed from his shoulder.

Quickly turning to see whom the culprit was, they saw a strange black giant trudging towards them. His face was hidden behind a black helmet. Subaru felt as if he looked familiar. His silhouette looked remarkably like Dread Joker.

"You… What are you doing here?" Shademan grimaced as he saw his fallen arm disintegrate into blue bits of data. He looked at the figure with the utmost disdain. "Did that man send you?!"

"You are no longer fit to lead the darkloids, Shademan." The navi's voice was even, void of emotion. He raised a hand towards the fallen darkloid as another laser began to charge up. "I, Laserman of Nebula, shall take your place"

The palm of Laserman's hand erupted in a flash of bright light as another thin laser pierced straight into Shademan's chest. A gaping hole was left from where the laser had struck. "AaaUuUUUuuuuugh!" Shademan let out a resounding cry as his entire being glowed a bright purple before exploding into a flock of bats. The vermin dispersed, disappearing back into the Net.

"So he got away." Laserman crossed his arms as he observed the phenomenon. "No matter, we will deal with him later."

"Did he just…?" Enzan quickly snapped back to the towering black navi. He was unsure what was happening. "Why would he take out his own comrade?"

"Comrade? That fool was nothing but a puppet for Nebula." Laserman scoffed at the mere thought. Though they couldn't see his eyes, his head turned slightly to look at the one standing between the two Net Saviors. "Boy. You are attuned to the Noise here, correct? Why do you not use the power of 'Black Ace'?"

Subaru was perplexed as to why the navi had asked such a strange question, but his look of confusion turned into conviction once more as he answered back. "I don't need its power to defeat someone like you. Not with Netto and Enzan here."

"So if your friends were not here, then you would transform?" With a snap of his fingers, something flew past Laserman and charged straight for R Rockman. Already prepared for the attack, R Rockman aimed his buster at the approaching figure. The shots however seemed to ricochet off as the new opponent slammed into him without losing a bit of momentum.

"Shi Shi Shi! I hope you don't mind me cutting in!" Needleman held one of his sharp appendages close to R Rockman's neck. He was clearly empowered by a dark chip as a purple aura seemed to be emanating from him. "Just sit back and enjoy the show."

"Netto!" R Blues attempted to hurry over to help his fellow Net Savior, but stopped after a warning laser nearly missed his foot by inches. He whirled around to face Laserman again, but found that the hulking navi had closed the distance in his mere second of distraction. Grabbing a hold of the boy's head, Laserman slammed R Blues into the ground. The weight pushing down on him was enormous as he strained to turn his neck. "D-Damn it! Why are you doing this?"

"Enzan! Netto!" Subaru couldn't decide whom to help first. As he was about to activate a battle card, Laserman raised his free hand to stop him.

"Choose your actions wisely, boy. Nebula's business is only with you. If you cooperate, your friends will not be harmed."

"Don't trust them, Subaru!" Netto called out from where he was pinned, but was silenced as the sharp needle was pushed closer to his neck, threatening to puncture his skin if he said another word.

With the nuisance silenced, Laserman continued his proposition. "We are interested in your ability to manipulate 'Noise.' We can help you control 'Black Ace'. All you need to do is cooperate."

Something clicked in Subaru's mind. His words were oddly reminiscent of a particular scientist that he had only just met earlier today. "Wait, you're—?"

"Laserman, can't we just eliminate these two now?" Needleman interrupted as he tried to restrain the squirming R Rockman without hurting him too badly. "It will save us a lot of trouble in the future."

"Silence, Needleman." Laserman commanded before turning back to Subaru. "Boy, your decision. Will you cooperate with us, or will you let your friends perish?"

Subaru closed his eyes, trying to think of any possible alternatives. If he could borrow the power of Black Ace… but would calling upon the Meteor Server's power be okay? Could he control it this time?

"_You have the will to protect those important to you. Concentrate on that feeling."_

Subaru could hear the same soft voice that had spoken to him before in his mind. It wasn't the Meteor Server's voice, or anyone that he could identify. But he had the feelings that he could trust these words.

"_Remember, you are not alone now._

_Do not be afraid."_

"Warrock! Are you ready?" Subaru shouted, as he concentrated on tuning in with the Noise once more. His voice was unflinching as he came to his decision.

"Lets rock, kid!" Warrock responded immediately as Noise in the air began to condense into a crimson color. "You can leave the Noise regulation to me. Just go buck wild out there!"

Laserman observed silently as the red stream of Noise began to form a red shell over the boy. The levels began to drop as the energy was absorbed into the Meteor Server's core. In a burst of light, the sphere exploded to reveal the manifestation of the Meteor itself once more.

Ryuusei's armor had once more become a deep black with green lining. His wings came to life, glowing with an ominous crimson light. As the Noise levels returned to zero, Subaru finally opened his eyes. Without another word, the lithe figure disappeared from view in a flash.

"Where the heck did he—!" Needleman began to say but was caught off guard when Black Ace had suddenly appeared above him with a dark blade in hand. Cursing under his breath, he let go of his hold on R Rockman to dodge the crashing blade. "Kuh, how can he be so fast?"

"Enough, Needleman. We're retreating." Laserman finally lifted his hold from R Blues. "Our mission has been fulfilled."

Both Needleman and Laserman pulled back, maintaining a distance from the Noise controlling warrior. They had already begun to dematerialize as the walls of the Dimensional Area began to recede.

"Wait! Are you guys running away?!" Netto yelled out, even as his cross fusion began to come undone.

"Shi Shi Shi!" Needleman snickered as his form glowed a bright blue. "You got lucky this time kid. But next time, you won't be so fortunate."

Before the two darkloids fully dematerialized back into the system, Laserman ominously gave his last remarks to Black Ace. "We will meet again on the other side, boy."

With the immediate crisis averted, the boy's looked to the now passive Black Ace. He was motionless, his expression unreadable.

"Uh… Subaru?" Netto cautiously approached him, careful to not make any sudden movements. "Are you… alright?"

It took a couple of seconds for Black Ace to register the question as his red eyes focused on the brunette in front of him. He retained a semblance of clarity, recognizing the boy in front of him. "Netto… I'm glad you're okay."

Netto made a wide grin when hearing his name. He breathed a sigh of relief seeing Subaru in control. "Subaru! You're—"

"Back away from Ryuusei, Hikari Netto!" A gruff voice called out, followed by the sound of many footsteps. Red eyes watched as the Net Police's Special Forces poured into the hallway and quickly surround him. Officer Koyama was the one to step forward, reaching out to Netto. "I repeat, stand down Hikari Netto. This is now under my jurisdiction."

"What's with you? Why are you all acting as if Subaru is a bad guy!?" Netto argued back. He stood in between Koyama and the silent Black Ace.

Whilst the two of them argued back and forth, Black Ace looked at his hands. His eyes widened upon a sudden realization. He looked himself over slowly, trying to figure out the cause of the problem. This was something he never could have expected to happen. "I… I can't 'Pulse Out'…?"

Warrock's voice came through from the device on his arm. "I'm not sure what it is, but something is jamming our frequency!"

Amidst the crowd of people surrounding him, he noticed the figure of Dr. Regal in the corner of his vision. He turned to look at the scientist, his eyes narrowed. The man was smiling knowingly at him, perfectly aware of the situation. Subaru could already draw the connection.

"Netto… I'm sorry, but…" Black Ace's calm voice cut through the argument, their attention now focused on him. His normally expressionless face for once showed just a bit of sadness. "It seems as if I can't stay here anymore. Thank you. For everything."

"Wait, Subaru! What are you—!" Netto reached out to grab Black Ace's arm, but felt his hand go right through him. His form glowed faintly as he changed frequencies. In the blink of an eye, he disappeared completely from visibility. "Subaru?!"

"Damn! He got away!" Koyama cursed as he directed the officers to scatter. "Look for him! He can't have gone far! Check the systems too!"

Amongst the chaos of shuffling feet, Netto saw Enzan motion him to come. He was standing to the side, avoiding the moving crowd. "Netto. Over here."

"What are you doing just standing around? We have to find—!"

"I think I know where he is." Enzan quickly said in a hushed voice. He didn't want anyone else overhearing the conversation. "Come on, before it's too late."

* * *

AN: Here's an especially long and eventful chapter. Everything is happening so fast, but hopefully not too fast! My apologies for the wait! Thank you again to returning fans. I hope you have it in your hearts to forgive me. And thank you to the new fans of this old fic for reading to this point! Hopefully you've enjoyed the long read.

For those who haven't noticed, I went back and proofed my older chapters a bit. Not much has changed besides wording. So don't worry about missing anything plot-relevant.


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